Legally speaking, driving in a construction zone is the same as driving through regular traffic, except that it costs more when you break the law.

The biggest problem law enforcement and construction officials say they face with drivers is speeding. To discourage speeders, the state doubles the fines in work zones.

		Joe's hot tips At merge points, drivers often will try to get into the keep-moving lane as soon as possible. But that creates a bottleneck long before the merge point, where one of the lanes actually closes. This leaves a lengthy open space in the lane that is closing far ahead of the merge point. Brave drivers take the lane that is closing all the way up to the merge point -- as they're supposed to. This angers drivers who've waited for lengthy periods and who then won't let other drivers merge. To combat this, PennDOT sometimes puts an off-duty police officer about a quarter mile from the merge point to encourage cooperative driving.

"[Construction work] is a very difficult job to do when you have people flying by," said Frank Cippel, a civil engineer with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

On highways with a regular speed limit of 55 mph or 65 mph, the speed limit in work zones is 40 mph. In other areas, the decision to raise or lower the speed limit in a construction zone depends on local government and the type of road.

When the work zone speed limit is 40 mph, fines for traveling at 50 mph are $158; 60 mph is $208; 70 mph is $258; and 80 mph is $308.

State Trooper Terry Hunt recommends using the three-second rule for highway construction zones, just as in regular highway driving. That is, maintain three seconds of distance between you and the car ahead.

Construction signs warning of impending slowdowns are posted three miles away, two miles, one mile, 1,500 feet and 1,000 feet. About 500 feet away, Cippel said, drivers will usually see a sign indicating merging traffic.