[chambernews] Fwd: New work zone safety laws begin Aug. 1

[Karen Amundson (Chamber)]

Please keep this in mind when driving in work zones! Hefty fines!


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	New work zone safety laws begin Aug. 1
Date: 	Mon, 28 Jul 2014 18:33:10 +0000
From: 	Gillach, James (DOT) <james.gillach at state.mn.us>
To: 	#DOT_ALLCOMM <ALLCOMM.DOT at state.mn.us>



stationary-logo-bwMinnesota Department of Transportation

395 John Ireland Boulevard

Saint Paul, MN 55155

*News Release*

July 28, 2014                  Contact:              Kevin Gutknecht

                  651-366-4266

kevin.gutknecht at state.mn.us <mailto:kevin.gutknecht at state.mn.us>

**

*New work zone safety laws begin Aug. 1

*

ST PAUL, Minn. — Motorists who speed through a work zone will be fined 
$300 beginning Friday, Aug. 1, thanks to a new law passed during the 
2014 state legislative session.

“Many work zones are in place across the state, and many workers are in 
those work zones improving our state’s transportation system,” said 
Charlie Zelle, Minnesota Department of Transportation commissioner. 
“This law is important because it provides added protection in areas 
that can be vulnerable to careless drivers.”

Motorists who do not obey work zone flaggers’ traffic directions also 
can be charged a $300 fine.

“Safety in the work zone is one of our top priorities,” added Sue Groth, 
state traffic engineer. “We hope this new increased fine will draw the 
attention of motorists to slow down when driving past workers.”

To bring additional attention to work zone safety, the Towards Zero 
Deaths <http://www.minnesotatzd.org>effort, a multi-agency partnership 
that uses education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma 
response to promote safe and smart driving behavior, launched a 
statewide “Orange Cones, No Phones” safety campaign earlier this summer.

The Minnesota TZD partners include the departments of Health, 
Transportation and Public Safety. Since its launch 10 years ago, the TZD 
effort has helped decrease roadway fatalities by nearly half, from 655 
in 2003 to 387 in 2013.

In addition to the new work zone law, other 2014 legislation requires 
MnDOT to study all two-lane highways during the next five years, and 
where appropriate, consider raising the speed limit from 55 mph to 60 mph.

“We will only increase the speed limit if it is deemed safe and 
reasonable,” said Groth. “Two-lane state highways are already the most 
dangerous roads in the state, and we want to make sure any decision we 
make considers all factors that affect safety.”

A report of MnDOT’s findings and recommendations is due to the 
Legislature every January during the five-year review period.

Speed limits that aren’t established through the Minnesota Statute 
<https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/?id=169.14>are set by the MnDOT 
Commissioner based upon an engineering and traffic investigation. For 
more information about how speed limits are set visit 
www.mndot.gov/speed/index.html <http://www.mndot.gov/speed/index.html>.

###



-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://dala.kanabec.net/pipermail/chambernews/attachments/20140729/c09a6e35/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/png
Size: 6104 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://dala.kanabec.net/pipermail/chambernews/attachments/20140729/c09a6e35/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: New law FINAL_2014.docx
Type: application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Size: 25686 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://dala.kanabec.net/pipermail/chambernews/attachments/20140729/c09a6e35/attachment.docx>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://dala.kanabec.net/pipermail/chambernews/attachments/20140729/c09a6e35/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: karen.vcf
Type: text/x-vcard
Size: 293 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://dala.kanabec.net/pipermail/chambernews/attachments/20140729/c09a6e35/attachment.vcf>