An annual evaluation of traffic safety nationwide shows that six states are still “dangerously behind” in adopting more than a dozen laws, which the report says are key to protecting motorists.
Advocates for Highway & Auto Safety (AHAS) issued its 10th “Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws” that lists 15 traffic safety laws—ranging from seat belt requirements to texting prohibitions—and grades each of the nation’s 50 states on how they enforce such laws, or if they enforce them at all.
Most of those 15 laws have to do with new drivers who go through graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs that introduce teen motorists through restricted driving privileges.
The areas the report rated as best were: New York, Illinois, Kansas, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Delaware, Georgia, Rhode Island, Washington and Washington, D.C.
The ones that got the fewest points in the report and labeled as falling “dangerously behind in adoption of key laws” were Arizona, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Mississippi.
Dozens of states have more work to do on optimizing their traffic safety laws, according to the report, including 18 states that still need primary enforcement of seat belt laws and 15 states that need an all-driver texting ban.
Texting Laws Spotlighted as Progress Seen in States
The biggest traffic safety threat to teen drivers is distracted driving. Research shows that younger drivers are more susceptible to engaging in the bad habit behind the wheel, which the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says killed 3,331 people in 2011.
Younger drivers even have a harder time when trying to find cheap insurance coverage for cars because of their propensity to engage in such dangerous activities while driving.
The AHAS report applauded progress on distracted driving, including the 35 states that enforce legislation barring all drivers from texting while driving and enforce it as a primary offense, meaning police can pull over violators for that offense alone. A total of 39 states have all-driver bans, but some enforce the violation differently.
Alabama, Idaho and West Virginia were states that passed laws last year prohibiting texting behind the wheel and enforce the offense as a primary law.
Ohio passed a texting-while-driving law that enforces the ban as a secondary violation, meaning police can only cite a driver for the offense in addition to another one.
‘Public Education’ on Distracted Driving Needs Support from Laws
Federal traffic safety officials have made distracted driving a priority for years, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood labeling distracted driving as an “epidemic” as his department released a “blueprint” this past summer to combat the problem.
But AHAS said that public outreach and education “are not enough” without the backing of laws that are appropriately enforced.
“This is the tried and true method to change behavior in order to improve safety,” the group stated in its report.
To that end, AHAS cheered funds made available by Moving Ahead for Progress (MAP-21), a piece of infrastructure-related federal legislation that includes grant availability to states that beef up their anti-distracted driving laws.
Traffic Death Figures Estimated to Rise in 2012
The AHAS report was released to a significantly higher sense of alarm among traffic safety experts who saw the NHTSA release preliminary findings last month showing a reversal of roadway fatality trends in 2012 nationwide.
According to estimates, the number of traffic deaths from January through September last year jumped 7.1 percent, the biggest increase in decades that also is the first increase after years of shrinking fatality numbers; 2011 figures showed the lowest levels in 60 years.
While the NHTSA cautioned that the increase could simply seem alarming because of the historic decrease that preceded it, AHAS officials said their report was made more relevant by the recent findings.
“The traffic safety progress we’ve made since 2005 is at risk of being undone,” Jacqueline Gillan, AHAS president, said in a statement. “Several states have been moving backwards and most states are not moving at all to enact lifesaving laws … every state legislature is in session this year and there is no excuse for inaction by Governors and elected leaders.”
States Embark on Safety Campaigns for Drivers
It’s not just nationwide numbers that have been increasing. Nevada recently reported 2012 figures showing that the number of traffic deaths that year rose slightly over 2011. Officials said they hope to battle the rise with the Nevada Strategic Highway Safety Plan, which seeks to reduce traffic fatality averages by half by 2030.
Some of the increase stemmed from an increase in the number of pedestrian-related deaths, which rose about 21 percent between 2012 and 2011.
South Dakota is also trying to strengthen the safety of its roads. The state, which AHAS awarded its smallest point total in its report, commissioned a task force in 2011 to explore how better laws could be established to ensure safe teen driving.
The task force completed its report and delivered it to lawmakers Tuesday, with recommendations including implementing lengthier instruction periods, further passenger-related restrictions, and a ban on mobile devices for new drivers, the last of which the task force said was supported “overwhelmingly” by both its members and state residents.
