road construction practices (US State, country, region, etc)

[agentsteel53]

I do not know if any law in the US allows for unannounced speed cameras.  Arizona I think was the only state that had any speed cameras at all, and they had big yellow diamond signs announcing them.

and yes I do wonder how people get away with not slowing down from 80 when the construction zone is marked 35!  I've gotten burned for going 51 in a 45 when the 45 sign was knocked down!  I had thought it was still 55.  Cop didn't give a shit.

[J N Winkler]

"Fines doubled" etc. messages on signs usually refer to the fine only, not the points applied to the license.  People who fly through construction zones well above the speed limit are not risking their licenses unless they already have accumulated a lot of points.  Many states don't even have a points system as such (Kansas, for example, doesn't).  There may be a few states which use automated speed enforcement in workzones, but if there are, I don't know which ones they are.

[hbelkins]

New York has big signs stating your license will be suspended after your second work zone violation.

[vdeane]

NY also loves to park cop cars in work zones.  The exits 39-40 reconstruction zone on the Thruway even has cop hideouts built into the lane configuration (if you've ever been in the area and wondered why there's suddenly a wide left shoulder for a short period of time, that's why).  I've also seen one parked in the construction on I-81 near the Oswego county line and on a "work zone" on the Castleton-on-Hudson bridge where the only "construction" was a cop with his radar gun (yes, there really was a work zone whose only purpose was to be a speed trap!).

[PAHighways]

Does anywhere in US use fixed speed cameras in construction zones?

Maryland uses them in construction zones.  I was through the InterCounty Connector interchange work zone on 95 back in August, and there were signs announcing speed camera usage.

[PAHighways]

Arizona I think was the only state that had any speed cameras at all, and they had big yellow diamond signs announcing them.

Maryland uses fixed speed cameras as well, and their usage is announced.

[burgess87]

New York has big signs stating your license will be suspended after your second work zone violation.

I wonder how many of New York's drivers' licenses have been suspended due to that statute.

NY also loves to park cop cars in work zones.  The exits 39-40 reconstruction zone on the Thruway even has cop hideouts built into the lane configuration (if you've ever been in the area and wondered why there's suddenly a wide left shoulder for a short period of time, that's why).  I've also seen one parked in the construction on I-81 near the Oswego county line and on a "work zone" on the Castleton-on-Hudson bridge where the only "construction" was a cop with his radar gun (yes, there really was a work zone whose only purpose was to be a speed trap!).

Almost got nailed going to Cortland a couple weeks ago.  (Once again, I'm riding shotgun).  The driver's flying through the work zone.  He has a radar detector, which did activate.  It has arrows that pointed to the right, so we're all looking for the guy on the right.

At the last second, I look to the left and see the radio antennas - the trooper's facing westbound in between the construction barriers.  We passed him doing 65 or so.  I look behind us afterwards, and see the trooper's reverse & brake lights on.  Thought he was coming after us . . . but he didn't.

Would have taken him 10 minutes to reverse course because of the amount of traffic.

[Truvelo]

Maryland uses fixed speed cameras as well, and their usage is announced.

The 30mph limit looks rather low for the level of development along that road and I see photo enforced signs all the time even if there are no cameras.

As for fixed cameras, I was looking for temporary examples used in construction zones rather than permanent ones. This is an example in the UK with signs showing the temporary speed limit with a camera symbol. The cameras themselves are on the tall yellow poles in the distance.

At the last second, I look to the left and see the radio antennas - the trooper's facing westbound in between the construction barriers.  We passed him doing 65 or so.  I look behind us afterwards, and see the trooper's reverse & brake lights on.  Thought he was coming after us . . . but he didn't.

I had that happen to me once and the cop did give chase and pulled me because my rental car had expired plates

[mightyace]

I had that happen to me once and the cop did give chase and pulled me because my rental car had expired plates

Did you get ticketed?  If so, what did you say/do with the rental company?

[Truvelo]

I had that happen to me once and the cop did give chase and pulled me because my rental car had expired plates

Did you get ticketed?  If so, what did you say/do with the rental company?

The cop just gave me a piece of paper to hand to the rental company. He knew it wasn't my fault. Actually what happened I was driving along I-77 near Canton, OH and I passed a cop car sitting in the median and noticed it pulled out behind me. Not knowing whether it was me he was after I changed lanes to pass traffic and whenever I moved across so did the cop. A minute or so later another cop joined and I knew something was up. The inevitable blue lights came on so I stopped. The cop, local PD, was pleasant enough. No guns drawn saying "get out with your hands up" or anything like that. He asked for my license so I gave it him. He looked at the pink card seeing it was foreign then I showed him the rental documents. I must say the treatment was far better than I've had from police over here. If they requested a second car as backup they must have been expecting the car to be stolen or something and maybe a pursuit.

[6a]

New York has big signs stating your license will be suspended after your second work zone violation.

Georgia used to post signs saying "XYZ people were killed in GA work zones last year."  South Carolina has ones with a picture of a kid saying "Slow down, my daddy works here."

As for closed lanes, Virginia has a system where, instead of saying "LEFT LANE CLOSED" on the shoulder and median, the left lane has the closed sign, while the right lane has a "KEEP RIGHT" sign.  I can't recall seeing that setup anywhere else.

[Truvelo]

Georgia used to post signs saying "XYZ people were killed in GA work zones last year."  South Carolina has ones with a picture of a kid saying "Slow down, my daddy works here."

There's signs over here that say "Patience Prevents Patients" with the usual image of a worker wearing a hard hat.

[6a]

Speaking of South Carolina, they'd prefer you not speed.

[mightyace]

^^^

I wonder is that 30 days
a) Jail time
b) suspended license
c) something else
?

[Alps]

Michigan DOT is one of several state highway agencies which make extensive use of custom-designed temporary guide signs (black on orange background, generally with the FHWA alphabet series instead of the Clearview used on permanent guide signs):

The square footage can run in the thousands for major Interstate reconstruction projects.

NJ has a separate library from the MUTCD, so we pull out a lot of R(NJ)'s and W(NJ)'s.  Still, there are plenty of situations that aren't covered.  Like MDOT, NJDOT's policy appears to be that they'd rather make a custom sign and have it fit the situation than use a standard sign that almost works.  (For example, some states will use a double lane shift sign for 3+ lanes rather than make a new one.)  I've designed enough signs similar to those on just one project, and yes, we had thousands of square feet for just a small detour project.  All those detour signs add up...

[The Premier]

^^^

I wonder is that 30 days
a) Jail time
b) suspended license
c) something else
?

I pick A.

[6a]

I pick A.

You win.  They also have similar signs regarding littering, although I think that is $1000 and 30 days.

[cu2010]

30 days in jail for speeding? That's a little ridiculous, don't you think?

$200 fine is one thing...but that $200 in revenue is overshadowed by the costs of housing someone in a cell for thirty days...

Who comes up with these laws?

[PAHighways]

As for fixed cameras, I was looking for temporary examples used in construction zones rather than permanent ones.

Like I said, there were signs at the 95/ICC interchange site saying the work zone speed was photo enforced but I didn't see any camera.  Then again I am not used to seeing photo radar cameras in my daily travels.

The Street View looks like someone drove through there at night in a downpour, so I can't even get the picture of the advance warning sign.