Vermont Work Zone Laws

How Vermont handles work zones

Vermont doubles the civil penalty for breaking a posted worksite speed limit, twice what the same speed costs on open road (23 V.S.A. §1007). The reduced limit holds while the signs stand, workers or not. A repeat speeding conviction within three years doubles the penalty again. Obey the flagger's paddle; it directs traffic like a control device. A statewide handheld ban already covers the zone, and distracted-driving points can double there too.

Speed, fines, phone, and the flagger

• Speed rule: Obey the posted work-zone limit while the signs stand. The civil penalty for breaking a worksite speed limit is twice the penalty for the same speed outside the zone (23 V.S.A. §1006a(d), §1010(b)). Cameras run only in the vicinity of a work zone on a limited-access highway, only while workers are present, and they trigger at more than 10 mph over (23 V.S.A. §1605, §1606).
• Fine multiplier: Doubled. The civil penalty for violating a posted worksite speed limit is twice the penalty for the same speed outside a work zone (23 V.S.A. §1006a(d) on State highways being reconstructed or maintained, §1010(b) on town highways). The Judicial Bureau's Speed Penalty Chart carries the doubling through: $162 at 10 mph over against $105 outside the zone, $323 at 20 over against $185, capped at $2,347.
• Phone in a work zone: Restricted — put it down
• Flagger authority: Obey the flagger controlling traffic through the worksite; a flagger directs traffic with the authority of a traffic control device, and ignoring the paddle is citable.
• Base fine: $59 at 1 mph over, $105 at 5 over, $162 at 10 over, $254 at 15 over, $323 at 20 over, and $599 at 30 over off the Judicial Bureau's Speed Penalty Chart, capped at $2,347. The same speeds cost $53, $76, $105, $151, $185, and $323 outside the zone, because the statute doubles the fine and the flat surcharge is added only once (23 V.S.A. §1006a(d), §1010(b)).

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