(a) To promote traffic safety, the department may designate a portion of a highway to be a traffic safety corridor. The commissioner shall establish criteria for the designation and continuation of traffic safety corridors. In establishing the criteria, the commissioner may consider accident data and reports, the type and volume of vehicular traffic, engineering and traffic studies, and other relevant factors. Before the department designates a traffic safety corridor, the commissioner shall consult with the commissioner of public safety and shall consult with other local, state, and federal agencies with responsibility for traffic safety. A motor vehicle or traffic offense committed in a traffic safety corridor is subject to a double fine as provided in AS 28.90.030. The department shall erect signs designating traffic safety corridors and alerting the public that motor vehicle and traffic offenses committed within a corridor are subject to double fines. A claim for damages may not be made against the state or its officers, employees, or agents for an act or omission relating to the designation of and erection of signs regarding a traffic safety corridor.

(b) The legislature may appropriate 50 percent of the fines for offenses committed in a traffic safety corridor imposed under AS 28.90.030 and collected and separately accounted for by the state under AS 37.05.142, to the division of the department responsible for highway safety planning, for highway safety programs.