The Ohio House of Representatives has passed a bill that would stiffen penalties for dangerous driving in highway work zones, sending the Trenton Gallaway Work Zone Safety Act to the Ohio Senate, according to the Scioto Post, which reported the Nov. 11 vote. The Ohio House’s own legislation page lists House Bill 82 as passed by the House, with its current version marked “As Passed by the House.”
House Bill 82 is sponsored by state Reps. Gary Click, a Republican from Vickery in Sandusky County, and Mark Johnson, a Republican from Chillicothe, the Scioto Post reported. It is named for Trenton Gallaway, a young highway worker whose death in a work zone was cited by Click on the House floor and throughout the bill’s committee hearings.
Under the bill as passed, a driver who commits a reckless driving violation in a marked construction zone while one or more construction workers are present could face an additional fine of up to $100, according to the Scioto Post’s summary of the legislation. Courts would also be authorized to impose double fines for speeding violations in construction zones when workers are present.
The bill builds in an education off-ramp alongside the fines. Offenders could complete a driving safety course within 90 days of the violation instead of paying the additional fine, the Scioto Post reported, while those who fail to complete the course would face a higher fine and penalty. Committee testimony on the bill also described driver-education instruction on construction-zone dangers for new drivers, according to testimony filed with the House Public Safety Committee.
“It is imperative that we look out for the men and women in hardhats on our highways,” Click said, according to the Scioto Post. “Trenton Gallaway is one of many highway workers whose life has ended tragically due to careless driving in our work zones. This is the next step in protecting these good men and women who contribute so much to our state.”
Johnson said the legislation is intended to help reduce accidents in highway construction areas, according to the Scioto Post. “HB 82 is another good step in the right direction to help mitigate highway construction accidents from happening,” Johnson said, according to the Scioto Post.
The numbers behind the bill are stark. According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s Work Zone Dashboard, cited by the Scioto Post, 25,606 crashes occurred in Ohio work zones between 2021 and November 2026, and construction workers were present in 35 percent of those crashes. The same data indicates that work zone fatalities have increased by 11 percent in 2026, the Scioto Post reported.
Gallaway’s story has been at the center of the push. In written testimony to the House Public Safety Committee, his mother, Jenny Gallaway, told lawmakers her son was hit and killed in 2024 by a motorist attempting to pass on the left while he was working in a work zone. Trenton Gallaway worked for the Richland County highway department as a seasonal employee just out of high school and went on to earn his CDL and a permanent full-time position, his mother testified. The Ohio Chapter of the American Traffic Safety Services Association, in its own proponent testimony, said Gallaway was 20 years old and was completing intermittent moving road maintenance in Franklin Township when he was struck.
The danger is not abstract for Ohio road workers this year. NewsForce247 reported this week that an ODOT bridge inspector, Jennifer Donley, 45, was killed by a semi on I-70 in Zanesville while working along the interstate. And the state is in the middle of one of its largest construction seasons: ODOT’s draft Transportation Review Advisory Council list would steer millions more into central Ohio projects alone, which means more work zones, and more workers standing feet from live traffic, in the years ahead.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What we know: the Ohio House has passed House Bill 82, the Trenton Gallaway Work Zone Safety Act, and the bill now goes to the Ohio Senate, according to the Scioto Post and the Ohio House legislation page. What we are still waiting on: the Senate’s committee assignment and hearing schedule, whether senators will amend the fine or course provisions, and whether Gov. Mike DeWine would sign the bill in its current form if it reaches his desk. The bill’s penalties would take effect only if it passes the Senate and is signed into law.
What happens next: the bill moves to the Ohio Senate for committee consideration. If the Senate passes it without changes, it goes to the governor; if senators amend it, the House would have to agree to those changes first. NewsForce247 will follow the bill’s progress and update this story as it moves.
Photo: The Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Photo: Ɱ, CC BY-SA