>And making it a lesser civil fine frequently makes it nearly impossible to fight.

State regs about marking work zones are strict and specific enough that if a contractor was violating them in any way, you could easily get one of these tickets thrown out. That's probably why they made the fines (warning, $75, $150 for the first three offenses) relatively low - people will just pay them without complaint to avoid further hassle, even if they are not actually legally liable.