State police are cracking down on work zone violations in St. Lawrence County and throughout New York.

The New York State Police and the Department of Transportation have started “Operation Hardhat,” a joint effort to crack down on work zone violations and highlight the importance of safe driving through active construction and maintenance work zones on state highways.

Members of the New York State Police Troop B will patrol several active work zones this week to ticket motorists who disobey flagging personnel, speed through the work zone or violate the state’s Move Over Law, which protects emergency and work vehicles.

Emergency responders and highway workers depend on motorists being aware of their surroundings, using patience and caution, paying attention behind the wheel and eliminating distractions.

New York’s Move Over Law requires motorists to carefully slow down and safely move over when approaching law enforcement vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances, tow trucks, and construction and maintenance vehicles stopped along the roads.

Construction and maintenance crews across the state work alongside fast-moving traffic each day, depending on drivers being alert, patient and cautious

Motorists are reminded that fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone, and in accordance with the Work Zone Safety Act of 2005, convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual's driver license.

Work zone safety tips can be found at https://www.ny.gov/programs/work-zone-safety-awareness. For real-time travel information, motorists should call 511 or visit www.511NY.org or the mobile site at m.511ny.org, New York State’s official traffic and travel information source.