Springtime traditionally ushers in renewal and improvement on many fronts. Nowhere may that be more visible than on major highways in Ohio and the Mahoning Valley in what promises to be a bustling construction season. In Mahoning and Trumbull counties alone, the Ohio Department of Transportation plans about $90 million in projects now through fall.

But with that much-anticipated renewal to our congested and potholed thoroughfares also comes the increased potential for life-threatening danger.

That danger is real, as documented in a set of disturbing data on the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s work zone dashboard. That database covering 2019 through April 2024 reports:

*Ohio has recorded 25,426 crashes, of which 90 were fatal, killing 98 people. Thus far this year there has been a 300% increase in work zone fatal crashes compared with the first 3.5 months of 2023.

*The patrol has issued 35,633 citations for work-zone driving infractions.

*Forty percent of those citations clocked vehicles traveling at speeds more than 20 mph above the posted speed limit. And astonishingly OSHP issued nearly 100 citations for traveling 100 mph or more in work zones in a recent four-year period.

Clearly, the importance of work zone safety and caution mean absolutely nothing to some reckless motorists.

That’s why it’s critical that authorities continue to encourage and enforce cautious, careful and commonsensical driving, particularly in work zones. And that’s why the Ohio Highway Patrol has used its “Move Over, Slow Down” campaign to remind all drivers of the basics of the Move Over law in Ohio and every other state.

The law in Ohio, enacted in 2004 and expanded in 2013, requires all drivers to move over one traffic lane whenever approaching any vehicle with flashing or rotating lights parked on the roadside or in any road construction zone. If moving over is not possible due to traffic or weather conditions, motorists should slow down and proceed with extreme caution.

Failure to do so could land drivers with a misdemeanor conviction and fines from $300 to $1,000.

It’s serious business for law enforcers — as it should be. Speeding along major highways is dangerous enough; speeding in work zones is doubly dangerous. One motorist zooming along Interstate 80 in Trumbull County, for instance, was clocked at 112 mph. He was in a rush to get home to treat a stomach ache, he told a trooper.

Such rush jobs too often turn deadly. Nationwide, crashes in work zones or on the sides of roads kill one tow-truck driver every six days; 23 highway workers and one law-enforcement officer every month; and five firefighters a year, according to AAA.

Such wanton carnage underscores the need for strict and aggressive enforcement of the rules of the road in construction zones on all roadways in the state.

It also illustrates the need for strengthening disincentives for careless and distracted driving in such work zones. Toward that end, a bill introduced last month in the Ohio House of Representatives that now sits in the chamber’s Criminal Justice Committee merits serious and prompt consideration and action by the full General Assembly before its summer recess.

House Bill 429, sponsored by Rep. Gary Click, R- Vickery, would slap an additional $400 fine on driving infractions in work zones and also require offenders to take a safe driving course. Second-time offenders would face an extra $800 fine and driver’s license suspension for up to 90 days. Extra offenses could lead to an increase of nearly $1,200 in fines along with a year-long license suspension.

Those tougher and costlier penalties might be just the motivation some motorists need to follow these basic road-work zone driving tips from the state patrol:

* Don’t speed. Obey reduced speed limits in work zones. It takes less than a minute to drive through a 2-mile work zone at 45 mph than at 65 mph.

*Don’t tailgate. Most accidents in work zones are rear-end collisions.

*Stay alert. Dedicate all attention to the roadway. The traffic pattern in a work zone may be shifted, and lanes may be closed. Do not use cellphones or other electronic devices.

*Watch for orange work-zone directional signs, obey flaggers, and be aware of workers and equipment that may be moving in a lane near you.

By seriously following such sage advice in work zones, motorists can go far toward preventing a minor short-term inconvenience from morphing into a major long-term tragedy.