Q: How slow should one drive while traveling in
road construction areas (marked with orange signs, cones, and flags) if there
isn’t a construction zone speed limit posted?
A: In Washington it seems like the four seasons
are fall, winter, spring, and road construction. Last week I was nearly
landlocked by all the construction projects happening between me and where I
was trying to go. I’m not complaining; these projects needed to happen. It’s
just that when reliably dry weather only lasts for a few months, lots of road
construction projects get crammed into a short amount of time. With so many
road projects in the works, it’s almost inevitable that we’ll encounter them in
our routine driving.
Sometimes you’ll encounter a reduced speed limit
sign for a construction zone, but they’re posted less frequently than you might
expect. Based on memory (which isn’t as reliable as I like to think it is) I recall
seeing quite a few construction zone speed limits in the past, but when I drove
through some construction zones recently I didn’t see any reduced speed limits.
That’s not because the sign people are slacking on the job; it’s actually
intentional.
A few years back the Washington Department of Transportation made it a policy to design work zones that would minimize the need for speed limit reductions.
While not an option in every project, wherever possible, the goal is to keep
the speed limit the same during construction. I checked with a local traffic
engineer and he confirmed that it’s not just DOT that tries to plan their work
zones to be safe at the posted speed limit; local public works departments do
the same on their projects.
It’s important to note, especially in
construction zones, that the posted speed limit is a maximum speed, not a
required speed. Even on construction projects that don’t have a reduced speed
limit, you might see a sign with an advisory speed. You’re welcome to, and actually required to, drive slower if that’s what it takes to
avoid a hazard.
Posted speed limits are actually the second
bullet point of the speed law. The first section says, in part, “No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed
greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard
to the actual and potential hazards then existing.” Or put simply, drive slow
enough so that you don’t risk a crash, no matter what the posted speed limit
sign says. Our brains can only process a limited amount of
information at a time. When you drive through a new or changed environment with
a lot going on, like a construction zone, choose a speed that allows you time
to absorb the roadway activities; things like workers on the roadside,
construction equipment crossing the roadway, and other drivers that are distracted
by the construction work.
The engineer I spoke with said that the most
common kinds of crashes to occur in construction zones are read-end collisions.
He attributed it to people who are looking at the construction work instead of
the roadway. If you’re doing that while the driver in front of you is doing the
same thing, but at a slower speed, you get a rear-end crash. His advice, when
his son began to drive, was, (liberally paraphrased) “If you want to watch
people work I’ll take you to a construction site. When you’re in the car pay
attention to the road.”
The right speed is the one that gets you through the work zone safely. Notice that I didn’t say the speed that gets you through without crashing. Sometimes people avoid collisions not because they’re safe but because they get lucky, and luck is a lousy strategy for driving. The traffic engineer had a recommendation for how fast to drive through a construction zone: Go the speed you’d feel is appropriate if your mom was on the side of the road.
I always hope that people will make safe driving decisions because they care for the well-being of themselves, their passengers, and the other people on the road. For those that need additional incentive, traffic fines in construction zones are double the regular fine, and the penalty can’t be reduced, waived or suspended.