The Butler Township police and state Department of Transportation are employing the right strategy in their tough stance against motorists attempting to drive through a closed work zone on Whitestown Road. It's better to avert serious injury or a loss of life than to react after injury or death has occurred because of someone's refusal to comply with posted restrictions.

It's difficult to sympathize with the at least 76 drivers who have been ticketed since the work began - 42 tickets were issued over the weekend - to repair damage caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ivan in September. The closing of the section of road between the Vagabond Center driveway and Fairground Hill Road is adequately posted and there is no excuse for the temporary closing to be violated.

The restriction does allow for people whose homes are in the work zone to travel within it, but those residents are aware of the extra precautions they must take to ensure the safety of workers, as well as their own.

The safety of workers, as well as motorists, is why PennDOT asked the township to strictly enforce the road closing.

The closing is expected to last only until about March 18, if the weather cooperates.

A detour is posted, so even people unfamiliar with the roads around Whitestown should have no difficulty getting to their destinations.

The important thing is that they not try to be the exception to the stay-out rule. That wrong decision could be very costly financially because of the risks that it imposes.

Sgt. John Hays, of the township police, said the cost for a violator - for the citation and court costs - is $105.50, not an amount of money with which most motorists are comfortable in parting.

Hays said township officers are under orders to actively enforce the closing until the work is completed, in response to Chief Gary Garman's directive that "there is to be no traffic on that road."

Like PennDOT, Garman and his officers are thinking safety, and so should motorists.

According to PennDOT, the intent is to complete the work as quickly as possible, but regardless how long it takes, motorist patience is not only requested, but required.

The closing was well-advertised prior to being implemented.

The posted detour involves Hansen Avenue, Route 68 and Meridian Road. Work-zone residents traveling to and from their homes have special restrictions with which they must comply.

The best way to avoid a citation in the work zone is to avoid any temptation of trying to be someone who isn't caught. There should be no sympathy for drivers who choose to test their luck and lose.

Considering the dangers that work-zone violations produce, that $105.50 is a bargain. It would not be unreasonable if the fine and costs totaled a few hundred dollars more.