{"id":660698,"date":"2026-03-04T14:03:06","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/?p=660698"},"modified":"2026-03-04T14:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T19:15:19","slug":"work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Work Zone Safety bill increasing speeding fines passes House."},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"padding: 56.25% 0 0 0; position: relative;\"><iframe style=\"position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;\" title=\"Jason Pizatella on House Bill 4538\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/1170375998?badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/api\/player.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><b>CHARLESTON, W.Va. <\/b>&#8212; The West Virginia House of Delegates took another step to improve work zone safety along the state\u2019s highways. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvlegislature.gov\/Bill_Text_HTML\/2026_SESSIONS\/RS\/bills\/hb4538%20sub1%20eng.pdf\">HB 4538<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wvlegislature.gov\/legisdocs\/2026\/RS\/votes\/house\/00287.pdf\">unanimously<\/a> approved in the House on Wednesday.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The bill would increase fines for those cited for going 15 miles an hour or less over the speed limit from $200 to $500, and for 15 miles an hour and over, the fines jump from $200 to $1,000. Maximum jail time for the misdemeanor increases from 20 to 30 days.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe as an industry, unfortunately, have had three fatalities on the private side and one on the public side where speed was a factor,\u201d said Jason Pizatella,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>West Virginia Contractors Association President and CEO.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>In December, a <a href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2025\/12\/18\/single-vehicle-accident-leaves-one-dead-in-jefferson-county\/\">man was killed<\/a> when he crashed into construction equipment on Route 340 in Jefferson County. <a href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2025\/09\/13\/construction-worker-killed-on-i-64\/\">Last September, a construction worker<\/a> in Cabell County was killed on I-64 and in Jefferson County, <a href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2024\/04\/05\/highway-flagger-killed-in-jefferson-county-work-zone-crash\/\">a highway flagger was killed<\/a> in a work zone crash in April, 2024.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The increased fines for speeding are the second part of a three-part strategy to improve safety in work zones and slow vehicles down.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2025\/07\/09\/new-move-over-law-takes-effect-this-week\/\">Last year, the legislature approved a bill<\/a> amending the \u201cMove Over Act,\u201d which required drivers to treat construction vehicles like emergency vehicles and yield the right of way and move over a lane for construction vehicles.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The third part of that strategy is to utilize technology to assist in enforcing traffic laws in highway work zones.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it is cameras or some other innovative way for our officers to enforce the posted speed limits,\u201d said Pizatella.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Surrounding states such as Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland already utilize camera technology to enforce traffic laws. Pizatella added that there are cameras watching work zones, but they are not currently being used for traffic enforcement. He hopes to propose legislation to use cameras in West Virginia next year.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat we\u2019ve asked the legislature to do is not to turn into DC or Maryland or Pennsylvania, where citations are automatic. You still have to have that interaction and traffic stop initiated by a law enforcement officer. All it would do is give law enforcement one additional tool to enforce speed limits that are already there,\u201d explained Pizatella.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The bill will now be considered by the Senate.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fines for speeding in a work zone would jump from $200 to $500. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":618535,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-660698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Work Zone Safety bill increasing speeding fines passes House. - WV MetroNews<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Work Zone Safety bill increasing speeding fines passes House. - WV MetroNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fines for speeding in a work zone would jump from $200 to $500.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"WV MetroNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T19:03:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T19:15:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com\/wvmn-s3\/2025\/04\/work-zone-collision-I_77.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1509\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"849\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dave Wilson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@DaveWilsonMN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dave Wilson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/\",\"name\":\"Work Zone Safety bill increasing speeding fines passes House. - WV MetroNews\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tk-wv-metro.beforewegolive.dev\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com\/wvmn-s3\/2025\/04\/work-zone-collision-I_77.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-04T19:03:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-04T19:15:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tk-wv-metro.beforewegolive.dev\/#\/schema\/person\/0eabbd4f764c22cc111240ab8064d606\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wvmetronews.com\/2026\/03\/04\/work-zone-safety-bill-increasing-speeding-fines-passes-house\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com\/wvmn-s3\/2025\/04\/work-zone-collision-I_77.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/s3.us-east-005.backblazeb2.com\/wvmn-s3\/2025\/04\/work-zone-collision-I_77.jpg\",\"width\":1509,\"height\":849,\"caption\":\"The collision occurred late Monday morning just south of the Kanawha City exit. 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