How to drive through a construction zone legally
What signs to look for
Conclusion
How to drive through a construction zone legally
When you approach a construction zone as you are driving in Hawaii, you must prepare to drive through the zone in a legal fashion. This will include taking several extra precautions to ensure the safety of the construction workers who will be in very close proximity to the road. If you do not drive through the construction zone legally and are caught, the penalties will be much more severe than if you were driving unsafely on a regular road. Typically, fines for offenses such as speeding will double. If you end up injuring a construction worker as a result of driving unsafely, you will be arrested, and your civil liability will be as high as possible due to the fact you had all the literal warning signs possible and still chose to ignore them.
The most important thing that you will need to do when you are driving through a construction zone will be to slow down. Typically, speed limits are cut in half when you are in a construction zone. There will be very visible road signs with posted speed limits that will give you the specific temporary speed limits. You also must make sure that you give the driver in front of you extra space so as to not risk a collision in the construction zone. Finally, watch for areas in the construction zone where a temporary stop sign might be held by a worker. This might be to allow workers to cross the road quickly or to allow another side of traffic to advance. Either way, these stop signs count as real ones in the eyes of the law and ignoring it is the same as running a regular stop sign except the fine will be doubled when you are caught.
What signs to look for
As we mentioned, there will be several temporary road signs posted throughout the construction zone that will give you critically important information regarding driving safely and legally through the zone. This includes the previously mentioned posted speed limits as well as hand-held temporary stop signs. The difference with the stop signs will be that the worker will flip it to a side that says “Go” when it is safe to do so, much like a traffic light. There could also be several other signs that you will need to watch out for such as a sign that could signify a lane shift or a sign that could signify a rougher road due to road grading.
Conclusion
Driving through a construction zone requires your full attention as well as obedience to heightened traffic regulations in that particular zone. If you do not obey the lower speed limits or temporary stop signs, for example, you will be pulled over and the fines you will pay will be twice as high as normal. Even worse, when you drive haphazardly through a construction zone you risk the workers safety which can possibly land you in jail and/or paying thousands in civil court if one of them gets injured.
