Mounties handed out more than 250 tickets in the first week of an RCMP effort to step up traffic enforcement in Lower Mainland construction zones.
"We as motorists need to slow down and pay attention to traffic control signs and flag people... both for our own safety and for the safety of those working hard to improve our roads," Cpl. Aaron Sproule, an RCMP forensic collision reconstruction expert, said in a press release.
Penalties for speeding in construction zones range from a minimum fine of $196 to a maximum of $483 and a seven-day vehicle impoundment. A driver who fails to obey a flag person can receive a $196 ticket while driving without due car and attention will cost a motorist $368.
Since 2008, two flag people have been killed and another 40 have reported injuries as a result of collisions with motor vehicles. Three drivers were also killed in construction zones in the Lower Mainland last year.
Sproule said drivers often can't see properly in construction zones and experience abrupt changes in road conditions and traffic patterns when travelling through construction areas.
He added by simply reducing their speed, drivers will increase the amount of time they have to react to potentially life-threatening traffic hazards.
