An organization called Advocates for Highway Safety (Advocates) says that many state governors and legislatures are failing to do their duty and people are dying needlessly as a result. In a report called the 2016 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, the Advocates call out those states that have failed to pass needed highway safety laws and assigned a grade to each state based on the safety laws passed to date. Florida is one of nine states that received a failing grade on this report.

The report states that, nationwide, there are more than 300 optimal laws which, if enacted, could make highways safer and save lives. According to the Advocates, in 2015, only six states managed to pass a total of eight of those optimal traffic safety laws. Those states were; Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia. The Advocates are calling on the rest of the states to make 2016 the year that those necessary traffic laws will be passed into law.

The laws that the Advocates are urging the states to pass include:

Occupant Protection

• Primary Enforcement Front Seat Belt Law -Allows law enforcement officers to stop and ticket the driver for a violation of the seat belt law for front seat occupants without having to first witness another “primary” violation.
• Primary Enforcement Rear Seat Belt Law
• All-Rider Motorcycle Helmet Law – Requires all motorcycle riders, regardless of age, to use a helmet that meets U.S. DOT standards or face a fine.

Child Passenger Safety

• Booster Seat Law – Requires, at a minimum, that children aged four through seven be placed in a child restraint system (booster seat).

Teen Driving

Graduated Driver License (GDL) laws are designed to allow teens more time to learn driving skills without distractions.

• Learner’s Stage: Minimum Age 16 for Learner’s Permit
• Learner’s Stage: Six-Month Holding Period Provision – A beginning teen driver must be supervised by an adult licensed driver at all times during the learner’s stage. If the learner remains citation-free for six months, he or she may progress to the intermediate stage.
• Learner’s Stage: 30 50 Hours of Supervised Driving Provision with an adult licensed driver during the learner’s stage.
• Intermediate Stage: Nighttime Driving Restriction Provision – Unsupervised driving should be prohibited from at least 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
• Intermediate Stage: Passenger Restriction Provision – This provision limits the number of teenage passengers who may legally ride with a teen driver without adult supervision. The optimal limit is no more than one non-family teenage passenger.
• Cell Phone Restriction – This restriction prohibits all use of cellular devices (hand-held, hands-free and text messaging) by beginning teen drivers, except in the case of an emergency.
• Age 18 for Unrestricted License – A teen driver is prohibited from obtaining an unrestricted license until the age of 18, and one or both of the nighttime and passenger restrictions must last until age 18.

Impaired Driving

• Ignition Interlock Devices (IIDs) – This law mandates the installation of IIDs on the vehicles of all convicted drunk driving offenders, including first time offenders.
• Child Endangerment – This law either creates a separate offense or enhances an existing penalty for an impaired driving offender who endangers a minor.
• Open Container – This law prohibits open containers of alcohol in the passenger area of a motor vehicle.

Distracted Driving

• All-Driver Text Messaging Restriction – This law prohibits all drivers from sending, receiving, or reading a text message from any handheld or electronic data communication device, except in the case of an emergency.

To express your views on these important highway safety laws, find out how to contact your state representatives by visiting: Find your state legislator