Indiana preparing to deploy first worksite speed enforcement camera (2024)

Motorists traveling a 10-mile stretch of Interstate 70 just east of Indianapolis next week will be the first to be subjected to Indiana's experiment with camera enforcement of worksite speed limits.

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) plans to launch its initial "Indiana Safe Zone" Wednesday in the I-70 worksite from mile marker 95 to 105 in Hanco*ck County, or roughly between the exits to Mt. Comfort Road and Greenfield.

In accordance with a 2023 state law, speed enforcement cameras will be deployed in the worksite to record the license plate of any vehicle exceeding the reduced speed limit by 11 mph or more when workers are present.

The owners of vehicles recorded speeding through the worksite initially will receive a notice in the mail during the pre-enforcement period.

Once the program officially begins, a first worksite speeding violation will come with a warning, a second will incur a $75 civil penalty, and every subsequent violation will trigger a $150 fine.

Speed camera tickets can be contested through INDOT, but only if the owner provides the name, age, address and telephone number of the person who was driving the owner's vehicle, or clear and convincing evidence the vehicle was stolen or sold prior to the violation occurring.

The revenue generated by speed camera tickets is set to be deposited in Indiana's general fund that pays for education, public safety, health care, and nearly everything state government does.

"The goal of the Safe Zones program is to slow drivers down, reduce crashes, and most importantly, save lives," said INDOT Commissioner Mike Smith. "Speed continues to be a factor in work zone crashes and changing driver behavior is crucial to making work zones safer for drivers and road workers."

According to INDOT, 33 people were killed and more than 1,750 were injured last year in Indiana highway worksites. Four out of five people killed in worksites were either vehicle drivers or passengers, not construction workers.

House Enrolled Act 1015 (2023) — approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly and enacted by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb — authorizes INDOT to operate speed enforcement cameras in only four worksites each calendar year.

INDOT, however, believes it has the authority to monitor an unlimited number of worksites each year, so long as no more than four speed enforcement camera systems are deployed at once.

The law limits camera enforcement to worksites on interstate or U.S. highways where signs are in place ahead of the worksite to alert drivers to the speed cameras.

INDOT also is required to compile a report on the impact of worksite speed cameras and provide it to the General Assembly no later than July 1, 2028.

Police officers still can stop speeding motorists in worksites throughout the state. A motorist who exceeds the reduced speed limit in a highway worksite by even 1 mph — and is stopped by a police officer — can be fined $300 for a first violation, $500 for a second violation and $1,000 for each subsequent violation, along with possibly losing their license for one year.