Advocates urge tougher enforcement on seat belts, helmets, teens
By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — A national traffic safety advocacy organization urged Kansas policymakers to adopt seven laws on seat restraints, motorcycle helmets, seat belt enforcement and teen driving to prevent injuries and deaths amid an epidemic of vehicle accidents.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which released Tuesday the 19th annual edition of the Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, lauded Kansas for complying with nine of 16 lifesaving traffic safety statutes.
Kansas needs legislation requiring primary enforcement of seat belt mandates for passengers in back seats and that all motorcycle riders wear a helmet, the safety organization said. Kansas also ought to require rear-facing child restraint seat for passengers under 2 and adopt a booster seat standard. In terms of driver education, the organization said Kansas should set the minimum age at 16 for learner permits, create passenger limits and delay issuance of unrestricted licenses until age 18.
While Kansas had a majority of 16 recommended laws on the books, the association said Oklahoma had 10, Colorado seven, Nebraska six and Missouri three. Kansas received a “yellow” rating, which signaled room for improvement. Eight states had the highest rating of “green,” while Missouri, Nebraska and nine other states were assessed a “red” rating for lagging behind adoption of the organization’s model recommendations.
“We are now at a critical point in our nation’s surface transportation,” said Cathy Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety based in Washington, D.C. “Motor vehicle crash fatalities are skyrocketing despite fewer miles being driven.”
In the first half of 2021, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, motor vehicle deaths in the United States increased 18% above the same six months of 2020. The final tally in 2020 was 38,680 fatalities. Half of the people killed in those wrecks weren’t wearing a seat belt restraint. Other sobering facts: 10,000 killed were under the influence, 4,500 deaths were among people 15 to 20, 5,000 motorcyclists died.
Alex Otte, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said alcohol and drug impairment, speeding and not wearing seat belts were cited as leading contributors to the “public safety crisis.”
“State legislatures can do their part to stop this by passing laws that keep their communities safe and spare families the trauma of being impacted by someone else’s choice to drive impaired,” Otte said.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released a poll indicating nearly 75% of participants were unaware of the jump in traffic fatalities. A majority of those surveyed shared unease about dangerous driving habits, including speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving and lack of seat belt use. Two-thirds said not enough was being done to address dangerous roadway behaviors.
“The consequences of continued inaction are all too clear to emergency nurses,” said Mary Jagim, former president of the Emergency Nurses Association. “We spend our days receiving and treating patients who are injured in crashes, many of whom tragically do not survive or others who leave our hospitals with a debilitating, lifelong injury.”