Maine lawmakers consider automated crackdown on speeders in highway work zones

Yahoo

23-04-2025

Apr. 23—Speeders on Maine's highways are used to scanning roadsides for lurking state troopers, ducking below the speed limit, then stepping back on the gas.
But a group of bipartisan legislators wants to make it harder for the fast and the furious to escape a ticket when speeding through dangerous work zones.
A bill debated during a legislative committee hearing Wednesday would allow officials to test the use of an automated camera system to identify and ticket drivers who speed in highway work zones. The three-year pilot project would mark a departure for Maine, which banned most automatic traffic enforcement systems in 2009.
Backers of LD 1457, including the half-dozen legislators from both parties who sponsored the bill, say automated enforcement will save lives. Twenty-three people were killed in Maine work zone crashes in a 12-year period ending in 2023, according to state data.
"This is not a sweeping mandate. It's a test," Sen. Brad Farrin, R-Norridgewock, said when introducing the bill to the Transportation Committee. "It's time to take a closer look at what technology can do."
Farrin said he supports amending the bill to include a pre-enforcement period of 90 or 120 days where offenders drivers receive only warnings. The bill is about improving safety, not punishment, he said.
"Our (highway) workers deserve better. Our drivers deserve better. And we as policy makers have a responsibility to act," Farrin said.
But several opponents who submitted testimony before Thursday's public hearing said they worry that the cameras could open the door to privacy violations and government overreach.
"This bill represents yet another step toward excessive surveillance and control over the daily lives of Maine citizens," Milo resident Jeremy Nichols wrote in a letter to the Legislature's transportation committee. "The introduction of automated speed control systems in highway work zones may be presented under the guise of safety, but in reality, it paves the way for constant 24/7 monitoring and enforcement."
Although research suggests automated enforcement systems can reduce both speeding and the rate of serious crashes by encouraging drivers to remain on their best behavior, the nation remains divided on them.
Thirty states have laws permitting the use of cameras to track drivers who speed or run red lights, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Others, including Maine and New Hampshire, explicitly ban them.
The bill before the Legislature would limit the use of the traffic camera systems to highway work zones with speed limits of 45 mph or greater, and only three systems could be active anywhere in the state at any given time. Multiple "conspicuous road signs" would alert drivers when they approach or leave the area of an active camera.
The device would automatically snap a picture of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 11 mph or more, which would then go to the Maine Department of Public Safety for review. Speeders would receive a warning in the mail for a first offense and a fine for subsequent tickets.
Meghan Russo of the Maine Department of Transportation, which is not supporting or opposing LD 1457, testified that the program "would serve as a valuable addition to MaineDOT's safety toolbox."
There were more than 7,000 work zone crashes in Maine between 2011 and 2023, resulting in 23 deaths, said Russo, who noted that similar automated ticketing systems have significantly cut crash rates in other states.
"It's not about punishing anyone. It's about educating folks," Saco resident and retired Maine Turnpike Authority employee Bill Thompson wrote to the transportation committee prior to Wednesday's public hearing. "The practices that this bill would help provide will help protect workers and travelers achieve the ultimate goal: that we all go home at the end of the day."
Jeff Stevens, a supervisor at the Maine Turnpike Authority, has known workers who were killed or injured while doing highway work.
He and his co-workers regularly witness close calls because of increased speeding and driver inattention, Stevens told the committee on Wednesday.
"We live it every day," he said.
One of his co-workers was injured in a crash in 2024 and he and other crew members didn't know until later whether he would survive.
"Now we're expected to clean up the aftermath while traffic continues to fly by," Stevens said.
But the majority of residents who submitted testimony felt the bill was an unacceptable step down a slippery slope.
While LD 1457 bans the use of traffic camera images "for any surveillance purpose," Harris Van Pate of the conservative Maine Policy Institute said there was reason to be cautious.
"This introduces a precedent for automated government surveillance of ordinary Mainers under the guise of safety, especially troubling when the surveillance is tied to civil penalties," he wrote. "The risk of misuse or data breaches is real, and we must ask: Is this level of surveillance justified for a traffic enforcement pilot?"
The program would run from 2026 through 2028. The director of the Maine Turnpike Authority would then submit a report evaluating the pilot and recommending further legislation.
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