Bill Sponsors
Representative Alex D. Marszalkowski
Committee
House Judiciary
Summary
Select
This bill requires contractors working on Rhode Island roads and bridges to submit a traffic monitoring plan and use crash trucks equipped with traffic cameras at their work sites. If an accident occurs that injures or kills a worker, the camera footage must be given to the State Police and the Attorney General to help investigate and identify the driver. Contractors who fail to comply face strict penalties, including fines, jail time, and being banned from state contracts for up to five years.
Sponsor
Analysis
Pros for Progressives
- Increases workplace safety for vulnerable construction and maintenance workers by mandating protective crash trucks and monitoring equipment at road sites.
- Provides crucial visual evidence to ensure accountability and justice for workers who are injured or killed by reckless drivers.
- Imposes strict penalties on large contractors and corporations that fail to protect their workers, ensuring companies prioritize worker welfare over cost-cutting.
Cons for Progressives
- Expands the use of surveillance cameras on public roadways, which raises concerns about the erosion of privacy and potential misuse of data by law enforcement.
- Imposes severe criminal penalties, including felony charges and prison time, on contractors for administrative or equipment failures, contributing to the over-criminalization of regulatory issues.
- May disproportionately harm smaller, minority-owned, or disadvantaged contracting businesses that might struggle to afford the expensive specialized crash trucks and camera equipment required to bid on state projects.
Pros for Conservatives
- Strengthens law and order by ensuring police and prosecutors have clear video evidence to hold reckless or negligent drivers accountable for accidents.
- Protects state resources and taxpayers by ensuring state-funded infrastructure projects are clearly monitored and managed safely.
- Establishes strict, clear penalties for non-compliant contractors, ensuring that companies fulfilling government contracts adhere to the rule of law.
Cons for Conservatives
- Imposes burdensome new regulations and equipment mandates on private contractors, increasing the cost of doing business and potentially stifling free enterprise.
- Expands government surveillance of citizens on public roads through mandatory traffic cameras, infringing on individual privacy rights.
- Creates severe criminal liabilities, including felonies, for private businesses over regulatory equipment infractions, representing an aggressive overreach of government authority.
Constitutional Concerns
There is a minor risk regarding the Fourth Amendment (protection from unreasonable searches) due to the mandatory continuous recording of public roadways. However, courts generally hold that individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy while driving on public roads. The strict felony penalties for equipment failures could potentially face Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment) or substantive due process challenges if the punishment is deemed grossly disproportionate to the regulatory offense.
Impact Overview
Groups Affected
- Road construction contractors
- State highway workers
- Motorists
- Rhode Island State Police
- Department of Attorney General
Towns Affected
All
Cost to Taxpayers
Amount unknown
Revenue Generated
Amount unknown
BillBuddy Impact Ratings
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Public Services
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Regulatory
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Clarity of Bill Language
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Environmental Impact
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Privacy Impact
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Bill Status
Current Status
Held
Comm Passed
Floor Passed
Law
History
• 04/17/2026 Introduced, referred to House Judiciary
• 04/24/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/28/2026)
• 04/28/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
• 04/24/2026 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (04/28/2026)
• 04/28/2026 Committee recommended measure be held for further study
Bill Text
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), Rhode Island turnpike and bridge authority (RITBA) or any other road or bridge work in this state, shall have in place a traffic 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 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 of maintenance work is being undertaken on any state highway and/or interstate connector.
(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 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);
(2) Every person/contractor convicted of a second violation within a five (5) year period, shall be guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for not more than two (2) years and/or a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000);
(3) Every person/contractor convicted of a third or subsequent violation within a five (5) year period, shall be guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for not more than five (5) years and/or a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(e) Every person/contractor who violates the provisions of this section may be barred from contracting with the state and/or performing any construction or maintenance work on any RIDOT, RITBA or other road or bridge work in this state for a period of up to five (5) years.
(f) Nothing contained in subsections (c) or (d) of this section shall limit the civil liability of any person or contractor for violations of this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.
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), Rhode Island turnpike and bridge authority (RITBA) or any other road or bridge work in this state, shall have in place a traffic 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 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 of maintenance work is being undertaken on any state highway and/or interstate connector.
(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 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);
(2) Every person/contractor convicted of a second violation within a five (5) year period, shall be guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for not more than two (2) years and/or a fine of not less than one thousand dollars ($1,000);
(3) Every person/contractor convicted of a third or subsequent violation within a five (5) year period, shall be guilty of a felony and subject to imprisonment for not more than five (5) years and/or a fine of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
(e) Every person/contractor who violates the provisions of this section may be barred from contracting with the state and/or performing any construction or maintenance work on any RIDOT, RITBA or other road or bridge work in this state for a period of up to five (5) years.
(f) Nothing contained in subsections (c) or (d) of this section shall limit the civil liability of any person or contractor for violations of this section.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2027.