Pennsylvania has passed a new bill allowing the use of green lights to identify maintenance and construction work on its highways. As of August 16, any Department of Transportation (DOT), Pennsylvania Turnpike, or municipal motor vehicle conducting maintenance work or construction can use flashing green lights to enhance visibility and make worksites safer. 

Beaver County State Representative Jim Marshall proposed the bill, which passed unanimously before being signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro. The bill states that the new green light regulations apply to all maintenance and construction vehicles, including those used for snow removal, traffic-line painting, sign and signal maintenance, street sweeping, traffic control, and dump trucks and mowers. 

Pennsylvania isn’t the first to explore using green lights to alert motorists to roadwork. In 2012, Ohio passed a similar bill allowing its snow plows to display green lights. 

Although work zone accidents in Pennsylvania are at their lowest rates in years, there were still 1,216 crashes in work zones in 2023, resulting in 689 injuries and 22 fatal injuries—two were workers. Officials hope the new guidelines for construction and maintenance vehicles will help reduce them even more.