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States Get Graded on Traffic Safety 
California, D.C. Top List; Montana Rated Last 

Dec. 22, 2000 

By Joe Beaird 

ARLINGTON, Va. (APBnews.com) -- A new study ranks
California's traffic safety laws the strictest of any state,
while Montana's laws rate the weakest. 

The Arlington-based Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety looked at all 50 states and the District of
Columbia to see which had enacted laws that have
been shown to promote safer driving behavior and
reduce the number of crash deaths and injuries. 

"Clearly, some states do a better job than others of
getting good traffic safety laws on the books," said the
institute's senior vice president, Allan Williams. 

States were graded from "good" to "poor" in six
categories. California collected good ratings in every
category while the District of Columbia scored "good" in
five. Montana rated "poor" in four categories and
"marginal" in two others. The study, released earlier this
week, looked only at the laws, not how well they have
been enforced. 

Tough measures lauded 

Some of the key laws thought to improve traffic safety
include tougher anti-drunken driving measures such as
immediate driver's license suspensions and making 0.08
percent the legal blood-alcohol limit; vigorous seat belt
and child safety seat law enforcement; requiring all
motorcyclists to wear helmets; and using cameras to spot
drivers who run red lights. 

Another law the study looked at is a so-called graduated 
licensing system in which teenage drivers face restrictions 
on their driving privileges, such as not getting behind the 
wheel at night or with numerous passengers, during their first 
year or more on the road. California was the first state in 
the nation to enact a graduated license system. 

"California is ahead of the crowd in getting some of the 
best laws," said Susan Ferguson, the safety institute's 
senior vice president for research. 

Official defends Montana record 

The Montana Department of Transportation supports many 
of the traffic safety initiatives cited in the study, but 
state lawmakers have resisted stricter measures. The state 
has a history of leaving traffic safety up to individual 
drivers. Until 1999, no daytime speed limit was enforced 
on Montana highways, Williams said. 

"We're very independent; we don't like having laws crammed 
down our throats," said Jack Williams, the research and 
evaluation supervisor for the Montana Department of 
Transportation. "If you look at the laws, we're not that 
good. But if you look at the results, we're fair -- I don't 
feel like it's an unsafe state." 

Differing laws 

Traffic safety laws vary widely from state to state, the 
study makes clear. For instance, while every state but New 
Hampshire has a law requiring that motorists and passengers 
wear seat belts, only 17 states and the District of Columbia 
let police stop drivers solely for not wearing their belts. 
Other states require police to cite people for seat belt 
offenses only after they have been pulled over for some 
other offense. 

Prior studies have shown that "you boost seat belt use by 
12 or 13 percent by just making it a primary offense" for 
which you can be pulled over, said Liz Neblett, a public 
information officer for the National Highway Traffic 
Safety Administration. 

The NHTSA, while leaving traffic safety laws to the 
discretion of the states, praises tough seat belt 
enforcement, a 0.08 blood-alcohol limit and graduated 
driver's license restrictions. 

The Insurance Institute plans to conduct its study 
again next year to see if states implement new traffic 
safety measures. 

"The goal is to get states to look at the laws they have 
and consider making some changes," Ferguson said.
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Read the whole article at:
http://www.apbnews.com/newscenter/breakingnews/2000/12/22/traffic1222_01.html
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