BOSTON – Massachusetts is mired in a work zone safety “crisis,” and allowing state transportation vehicles to utilize blue lights at sites on high-speed roadways would slow down drivers and save lives, the state’s top highway official told lawmakers on Tuesday.

“Something as simple as the color of a light can save someone’s life,” Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said at a State House hearing. “Highway workers spend more time on the ground in high-speed situations than anybody else in Massachusetts, and we deserve that protection.”

The Rep. Edward Phillips bill (H 3763) would apply to all vehicles owned by, operated by or under contract with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation for construction projects.

Gulliver said there have been “immediate, numerical improvements” in driver awareness in states that have implemented similar policies. He added that a past Work Zone Safety Task Force pilot program that allowed blue lights to be displayed at work zones showed a “direct decrease” in vehicle speeds around the zones.

“We are in a crisis regarding work zone safety right now. But regrettably, this is not a new trend,” Gulliver continued. “It has become an urgent, urgent matter. There has been an incredible increase in transportation investing this last few years. That’s something that we needed and something that we are incredibly grateful for, but it also means that we are asking more of the men and women who do this work every single day. Right now, we have nearly 700 different active construction maintenance projects ongoing across Massachusetts.”

Gulliver called the last 12 months “amongst the deadliest in a long time” for highway workers, calling on lawmakers to think about how they behave when driving. “The first thing any driver does when they see blue lights either behind them or ahead of them, is they check their speed, they slow down,” Gulliver said at a Transportation Committee hearing. “That’s incredibly important when we’re talking work zones.”

There have been 659 crashes reported statewide over the last year that were work zone-related, 80 of which resulted in an injury to someone involved and four of which resulted in a fatality, according to Gulliver.

While State Police Association Treasurer Brendan Murphy said he agrees safety needs to be improved for highway workers, the association thinks blue lights should be reserved for law enforcement for “public safety reasons” — namely so that drivers don’t falsely perceive MassDOT vehicles as law enforcement officers.

“Green is just as effective as blue lights,” Murphy told lawmakers, adding that other states use different colored lights than blue for their highway work zones. “Green can cut through the fog at just the same percentage you’re talking about that blue lights can cut through rain and fog.”