The state of Arkansas will soon be deploying automated enforcement cameras to crack down on speeding in highway work zones.
On April 11, Gov. Sarah Huckabee signed into law SB481, now known as Act 707, which amended the state laws regarding the use of automated enforcement cameras. Previously, Arkansas Code 27-52-110 allowed for the use of enforcement cameras in school zones and railroad crossings. Act 707 expanded the use of the cameras to include highway work zones.
The process will be fairly straightforward. Enforcement cameras located along highway work zones will capture images of vehicles exceeding the posted speed limit. Once recorded, the image is then transmitted to an officer located at, or near, the end of the work zone. The officer will pull the offending vehicle over once they have exited the work zone and will issue either a ticket or a warning.
The bill states that law enforcement must “issue the citation to the violator at the time of the violation,” meaning that if police are not present in the work zone the cameras will be turned off. Additionally, the information collected cannot be used to send tickets to drivers via the mail at a later date.
“These are not cameras that send drivers tickets by mail,” Arkansas Highway Police Chief Jeff Holmes told KATV News. “This equipment simply allows officers to better enforce speed limits within work zones in real-time, keeping our drivers and workers safer.”
In fact, part of the bill’s amendments to the state code strictly prohibits officials from retaining any information recorded by the cameras that is not pertinent to a crime.
“Automated enforcement device data that is not related to an issued traffic citation or warning or an active criminal or civil investigation shall not be retained by a municipality or a department of state government,” the bill reads.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Kim Hammer, R-Benton, who noted an increased number of crashes he was seeing, in particular along a 3-mile-long construction zone in Saline County.
“That’s ultimately what led to where we are today,” Hammer told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “I was surprised at the number of accidents we were seeing there, so we decided to try to come up with a solution.”
According to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association’s Fatal Analysis Reporting System, there were 874 fatal work zone crashes in the U.S. in 2021, up from 780 the year before. In 278 of those crashes speeding was a factor. As far as commercial vehicles go, 291 of those crashes, roughly 33%, involved a large truck. Of those crashes, 96 also involved speeding.
Lorie Tudor, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation, applauded the bill’s passage and said that using speed enforcement cameras can have a big impact on roadway safety.
“We are very grateful to Sen. Kim Hammer and Rep. Lanny Fite for their sponsorship of this legislation and to the Legislature and Gov. Sanders for their approval,” Tudor told Land Line via email. “The use of speed enforcement cameras is strongly supported by the Arkansas Highway Police, the Arkansas Department of Transportation, the Association of General Contractors of Arkansas and the Arkansas Asphalt Paving Association. We believe that it will save lives by making our work zones safer for both our workers and those driving through.”
The new law will go into effect at the beginning of August. Under state law, fines are doubled for those who are caught speeding in designated zones where workers are present. LL
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