John Hanner wants lawmakers to know that photo radar in highway work zones could avert deaths and injuries — like the one he suffered.
Before he became the Central Oregon representative for Laborers Local 737, Hanner was hit by a vehicle in 2015 as he worked on the Terwilliger curves on Interstate 5 in Southwest Portland. He had torn cartilage, broken bones, and a shoulder injury that required surgery, shots, and physical therapy. A similar crash hurt two workers in 2004; they also survived.
Hanner told his story at a Feb. 25 hearing of the Joint Committee on Transportation for Senate Bill 711. SB 711 directs the Oregon Department of Transportation to work with the Oregon State Police to set up a mobile speed camera system to send automated tickets when drivers exceed posted speed limits in highway work zones. Hanner said the use of photo radar would prompt drivers to slow down in work zones, where speeds are 10 mph less than the posted limit.
“The difference between using police officers in cars and using this radar technology is day and night,” he said. “As the lights go off on the radar system, the general public not only slows down, but they stay slowed. As for police, once they see a police officer has (stopped) somebody or is not pulling out, they speed up right through the work zone.”
According to a 2023 ODOT report cited by Rep. Courtney Neron (D-Wilsonville) and a chief sponsor of SB 711, 58 people died and 202 were seriously injured in work zones between 2011 and 2020. Workers accounted for four of the deaths and one serious injury.
Fines for work-zone violations were doubled in 1995 after the death of a highway worker near Medford.
ODOT already has the authority to use photo radar in work zones, but the bill would require it.
In a 2018 test by ODOT of such a system, local police clocked 1,058 violations and issued 686 citations for speeding in a Medford work zone. The posted speed limit was 40 mph, but police reported speeds between 56 and 91 mph.
Sen. Chris Gorsek (D-Gresham) is the bill’s other chief sponsor and co-chair of the transportation committee. He said photo radar would operate only when there are actual workers in the work zones. Gorsek is a former police officer — and he said he knows what it’s like to be on a highway.
“If you’ve ever stood out on an active freeway — whether it’s directing traffic, standing by in an accident or helping with some other issue — you know just how dangerous it can be,” he said. “Imagine that you are out there doing an active construction job, where you are not necessarily watching the traffic in a way that a law enforcement officer would be, when somebody not paying attention causes a crash.”
