Acquittal Under New Michigan Road Worker Law Causes Controversy

Advocates and attorneys are raising questions about a new Michigan law targeting drivers who kill road workers, after the first prosecution ended in an acquittal. Some highway advocates and lawyers say that perhaps the law is subject to too much hair-splitting by juries. Others say it's already clear that more protection is needed for Michigan's road workers.

The controversy arose after jurors in Macomb County on May 2 found a driver innocent of killing a 26-year-old civil engineer when the driver's car veered onto the shoulder of Interstate 94 last year. This was the first motorist to face the tough new provisions of a Michigan law that went into effect in October 2001, which calls for 15 years in prison and a $7,500 fine for a fatality and one year in prison and a $2,500 fine for an injury.

The defendant’s lawyers argued that the driver veered onto the shoulder to avoid hitting a panel truck that had slowed abruptly in front of her, and there were no signs saying workers were present. One stated, "The jury had to believe it wasn't a construction zone or else she would have been found guilty. The law is ambiguous. The Legislature needs to come up with some kind of definition."

A spokesperson for the Michigan Road Builders Association concluded, "If the jury didn't believe that was a work zone, I don't know how many more signs have to be put up, how many orange barrels we have to put out before it becomes one. That jury declared open season on highway workers in Macomb County."

Pressure to create the new law mounted after a drunken motorist received only 45 days in jail following an accident that left a 19-year-old worker a paraplegic. That young worker’s mother has called for more reforms: "What the jury said is that anybody can go out and drive any way they want and get away with it. I don't know what the next step is, but something else has to be done.”

Police and prosecutors were also disappointed by the jury's decision, but aren’t convinced that the law is not effective. Legislators say it's too soon for that. "You have to give any law more of a test than one case," said the Chair of the Michigan Senate Transportation Committee.

Source: Detroit News, Monday, May 5, 2003