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H8464ARoads & Highways

Highways - Construction and Maintenance of State Roads

Contractors working on state roads must use crash trucks with cameras to record traffic and investigate accidents injuring workers.

Introduced61 Yea10 Nay4 Not voting
Population
Affected
25
Email Legislator
Introduced Apr 17, 2026Committee House Judiciary

Plain-English Summary

This bill requires contractors working on state-owned roads or bridges for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation or the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority to use a crash truck equipped with traffic monitoring cameras. The cameras must record traffic while work is being done. If an accident occurs that injures or kills a worker, the video footage must be given to the State Police and the Attorney General to help investigate the crash. Public utility workers are exempt. Contractors who fail to follow this law face fines and potential jail time for repeat offenses.

For younger readers

When people build or fix state roads, their companies will have to park a special safety truck, called a crash truck, at the work area. This truck must have cameras on it that record the cars driving by. If a car crashes into the work area and hurts a worker, the video from the cameras will be given to the police. This will help the police see exactly what happened and who was driving. Companies that do not bring the truck and cameras can be fined or get in trouble.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Road construction contractorsConstruction workersState employeesMotoristsPublic utility workers
Impacted communities
All

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

There is a minor Fourth Amendment and privacy risk regarding the continuous video recording of the public on roadways. However, because the cameras are placed on public highways where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, it is highly likely to survive constitutional scrutiny. None Likely.

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
Amount unknown

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Protects the safety and well-being of construction workers and state employees by ensuring accidents in dangerous work zones are recorded and thoroughly investigated.
  • Promotes accountability for reckless or negligent drivers who endanger vulnerable workers on public roads.
  • Mandates proactive safety planning by requiring state contractors to file formal traffic control and monitoring plans, elevating overall workplace safety standards.
  • Increases surveillance on public roadways, which raises privacy concerns regarding the continuous recording and monitoring of everyday commuters.
  • Creates a new misdemeanor offense with potential jail time for subsequent violations, contributing to the expansion of the carceral system for regulatory failures.
  • Exempts public utility companies from the requirement, leaving utility workers without the same level of safety monitoring and protection as state contractors.
For Conservatives
  • Enhances law enforcement's ability to investigate and prosecute individuals who cause accidents, supporting a strong "law and order" approach.
  • Holds individuals strictly accountable for negligent or deliberate actions that damage state property or injure personnel.
  • Limits the regulatory burden on public utility companies by explicitly exempting them from these new traffic monitoring requirements.
  • Imposes a new, costly regulatory mandate on private contractors working for the state, requiring them to purchase and operate specific camera-equipped trucks.
  • Expands government surveillance of citizens by mandating cameras on public roadways, infringing on personal privacy and freedom from monitoring.
  • Threatens private business owners and contractors with harsh criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for failing to comply with an equipment mandate.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

2 versions
Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 25 additions

SECTION 1. Chapter 24-8 of the General Laws entitled "Construction and Maintenance of State Roads" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 24-8-4.3. Traffic control – Use of crash truck - Cameras.

(a) Effective January 1, 2027, all contractors performing work on any project for the Rhode Island department of transportation (RIDOT) or Rhode Island turnpike and bridge authority

(RITBA) on state-owned or maintained roads or bridges, shall have in place a traffic control and monitoring plan, which shall be filed with RIDOT and/or RITBA as part of any bid or contract relative to the contract or work being performed. As part of the traffic control and monitoring plan, a contractor shall have on site a crash truck/attenuator truck as referred to in § 24-8-4.2 which shall include traffic monitoring cameras. The crash truck/attenuator truck shall be in place and the camera operational during any time in which construction or maintenance work is being undertaken on any state highway and/or interstate connector; provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, these requirements and the provisions of this section do not apply to work performed by public utilities.

(b) The crash truck/attenuator truck shall be equipped with at least one camera facing oncoming traffic if the work being performed is on a divided highway and, if not a divided highway, a camera facing in both directions of any roadway on which the work is being performed.

(c) In the event any motor vehicle accident occurs at the work site and any state employee or construction worker is injured or killed while engaged in the road work, a copy of all videos generated from the cameras shall be provided to the Rhode Island state police and the department of attorney general for purposes of identifying the operator of the vehicle, determining the cause of the accident and shall be used in the course of any investigation and the prosecution of any person determined to be at fault, whether through negligence, recklessness or deliberate conduct. (d)(1) Every person/contractor convicted of a first violation of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500).

(2) Every person/contractor convicted of a second and subsequent violation of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to imprisonment for not more than one year and/or a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.