Texting Bans, Teen Driver Safety Top AAA's State Legislative Priorities for 2011

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Laws thatban texting while driving and that improve safety for teen driverstop AAA's agenda nationwide as state legislatures convene across thecountry for their 2011 sessions. AAA looks to build on a relativelysuccessful campaign of traffic safety law improvements last year.

"Last year showed states' strong commitment to traffic safety asnearly a dozen states enacted laws banning texting while driving,but there were also real safety improvements on core needs like teendriver safety, primary seat belt laws, and child passenger safety,"said AAA Vice President of Public Affairs Kathleen Marvaso. "AAA isworking with legislators and other safety advocates in statehousesacross the country to draft and pass legislation in 2011 that willmake roads safer.

"As state legislatures grapple with another year of severe budgetchallenges, safety improvements are a low or no cost way thatlegislators can make their states better places to live. Laws thatreduce crashes, injuries and deaths can help reduce governments'medical and emergency response costs. In fact, some states couldreceive millions of dollars in financial incentives for passing someof these laws."

AAA's main traffic safety priorities in the states include:

Texting while driving bans: AAA in 2009 launched a nationalcampaign to pass laws banning text messaging while driving in all 50states. With 11 states having enacted these laws in 2010, there arenow 30 states with laws prohibiting drivers of all ages fromtexting. AAA expects nearly every one of the 20 remaining states toconsider this legislation in 2011.

Teen driver safety: Although every state has some form ofgraduated driver licensing for new teen drivers, nearly every statestill has opportunities to improve these lifesaving laws, accordingto AAA. States such as Alabama, Louisiana, Michigan, and Oklahomamade significant improvements in 2010, such as increasing the ageand requirements for getting a license, banning the use of wirelesscommunications devices for novice drivers, and adding or improvinglimits on teen passengers and nighttime driving for newly licensedteens. Just five states (Delaware, Indiana, New York, Oklahoma andWest Virginia) have graduated driver licensing systems that meetAAA's guidelines for nighttime limits, passenger limits, andpractice requirements.

Booster seat laws: Three states (Arizona, Florida and SouthDakota) lack booster seat requirements, which have been shown toimprove safety for young passengers. Colorado enacted a law in 2010to allow the primary enforcement of its booster seat requirement.Booster seat laws in 21 states still fall short of meeting safetyexperts' guidelines, which includes all children under age 8.

Primary seat belt laws: After a record-setting year in 2009, 2010saw modest gains as Kansas improved its seat belt law to allowprimary enforcement by police and Georgia closed a loophole in itslaw that exempted pickup truck occupants from the state's seat beltrequirement. AAA and other safety advocates will continue to work toimprove laws in the remaining 19 states without a primary belt law,as well as attempt to increase fines in some states with weakpenalties. Primary seat belt laws have repeatedly been shown as alow cost way for states to quickly increase belt use, reduce trafficdeaths, and lower the cost of crashes.

Move over laws: Nearly every state (49 states) has a law thatrequires drivers to slow down and, if safe, "move over" when passingan emergency vehicle that is actively working on a roadway. Virginiaimproved its law in 2010 to include tow trucks and other roadservice vehicles, increasing the number of states with these morecomprehensive laws to 39. AAA will continue to promote these lawsthat have been shown to improve safety for police, tow truckoperators, and others who work on our roadways.

As North America's largest motoring and leisure travelorganization, AAA provides more than 52 million members with travel,insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since itsfounding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has beena leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.AAA clubs can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.

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SOURCE AAA