Transportation News

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, a national initiative occurring annually to encourage safe driving. It will take on added significance in Pennsylvania this year.

“I want to warn everybody there are a lot of procrastinators out there, and our driver's license centers are having real serious issues with lines and people showing up before they even open,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said Tuesday.

The Bethlehem-based nonprofit and its 391 members are known locally to offer bicycle maintenance programming, group rides and advocate for all who walk, bike or take the bus in Lehigh and Northampton counties and beyond.

A 50-year-old man driving a motorcycle was pronounced dead after a crash on I-476 Sunday morning, according to a release from the Lehigh County Coroner's Office. The driver of the vehicle suffered minor injuries and another man was taken to a local hospital for his injuries.

'A Community Conversation: The Road Ahead' will feature several guests discussing Lehigh Valley traffic and transportation issues. It will be held Thursday, April 3, at the Univest Public Media Center in Bethlehem.

All Pennsylvania municipalities would be allowed to install red light cameras aimed at making intersections safer under a proposal that will be introduced as soon as this summer.

The airport authority's board of governors will vote next month on whether to consider new rules for companies competing to work on the authority's construction projects.

Driver education programs have dwindled in public schools across Pennsylvania, but still offer benefits. In the Lehigh Valley, only 5 school districts offer instruction of some kind. The local intermediate units and private driving schools fill in the gaps.

Impaired driving is among the most persistent threats to road safety in the Lehigh Valley, according to two of the region's chief prosecutors. Lehigh County recorded about 1,750 impaired-driving cases in 2024, up almost 42% over the past five years.

Courts weigh the benefits of punishing drivers for their actions and helping them recover from underlying issues that may have led them to drive impaired, according to the region's chief prosecutors.