NEWINGTON, Conn. (WTNH) — The Connecticut Department of Transportation is placing three vehicles with camera equipment at construction zones to catch cars speeding through.

The vehicles will be placed at construction sites throughout the state as part of the Know the Zone pilot program that will begin on April 10.

“It’s been pretty dodgy since COVID, a lot of people driving like a bat out of hell,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.

There have been more than 3,600 crashes in construction zones in the past four years in Connecticut, leading to 13 deaths and 37 people who have been seriously injured.

“Most recently in Maryland, we saw six people die in a work zone just last week, and it was on the anniversary of one of our ConnDOT colleagues who died 11 years ago, Dan DiNardi,” said CTDOT Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto. “So, it really hit home for us here.”

David Ferraro, a CTDOT engineer, was hit by an intoxicated driver in 1995 while working on a road paving project in Greenwich.

“I live in severe pain every moment of my life now,” he said.

Ferraro said that he and a coworker would have been crushed between two vehicles if things had been a little different.

The camera system gets triggered if a vehicle goes by at more than 15 mph over the posted speed limit. Officials said drivers should have fair warning before they reach the camera.

The state has set aside $4 million for the program. In addition to the cameras, the SUVs will also have equipment to measure speeds.

The vehicles will be at Interstate 95 in Norwalk and Westport and Route 8 in Shelton and Seymour. Another camera will be at Route 2 in Hartford, East Hartford and Wethersfield.

There won’t be an indication that the camera was triggered until the driver receives a ticket in the mail.

A first infraction comes with a warning. The second comes with a $75 fine, and the third with a $150 fine.