Video: Speed cameras coming to a freeway near you

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TACOMA – In April the state Department of Transportation will start posting automatic speed sensors and cameras in work zones throughout the state.

It's part of a pilot program approved by Legislature in 2007.

Signs will warn of the photo enforcement ahead, and the cameras will be mounted inside generic-looking cars.

"What the driver will see is similar to a small SUV or minivan parked alongside the road," said Alice Fiman, WSDOT spokesperson. "The camera and the person operating the camera will be in that vehicle."

If a motorist speeds past, the camera will snap a photo of its license plate. Speeders will get that photo in the mail along with a $137 ticket.

It's a pilot program the first year, and then DOT will determine if it was effective in lowering speeds. The program could expand.

The state is focusing on work zones because warnings to slow down there are often ignored. In the worst of cases, construction workers have been killed or injured.

"We've seen a few fatalities in the past year, but there's near misses every day," Fiman said.

The goal is to cut down on those near misses and to train drivers that speeding through a construction zone will likely translate into a ticket.