Recently, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released a report ranking Mississippi among the eleven most dangerous states for drivers due to a lack of safe driving regulations. This coalition of business and safety groups made the alarming finding that more states have a lack of basic safety laws than have strong safety regulations. The report illustrates a direct correlation between regulation and lives saved.
The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety ranked each state based on adoption of the fifteen safety laws considered critical by the organization. After analyzing the safety laws employed in each state, the report provided color ratings according to the level of regulation. Eleven states, including Mississippi, received a “red rating,” which reflects poor protections. The complete list of states receiving this red status are: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Ten states received the highest “green rating.” These top safety states are: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington. Washington, D.C., also received the coveted green ranking. All remaining states fell into the “yellow rating” category, meaning they had some necessary regulations on the books but not as many as recommended.
The fifteen safety laws considered optimal by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety include: driving while texting bans; requiring booster seats for children; mandating helmets for all motorcycles; and allowing officers to ticket any passenger not wearing a seatbelt without another offense having first taken place. Additionally, there are seven laws relating to teen driving, including night restrictions, and three related to impaired driving.
Illinois and Oregon were the top two states, each having adopted twelve out of the fifteen recommended safety regulations. South Dakota had the fewest safety laws, with just two regulations that restrict nighttime driving among young drivers and prohibit open containers. The organization found that two laws in particular, both related to teen driving, were the least adopted. They are: setting sixteen as the minimum age to obtain a learner’s permit and nighttime restrictions on teen driving. Just eight states prohibit learner’s permits for those under sixteen and only eleven have nighttime restrictions on teen driving.
According to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Mississippi needs to pass the following laws to ensure maximum driver safety in our state:
- Require booster seats through age seven
- Mandate sixteen as the minimum age for a learner’s permit
- Enact 30-50 hours supervised driving provision
- Strengthen nighttime restriction provision for new drivers
- Ban passengers with new drivers
- Strengthen cell phone restriction provision
- Set eighteen as minimum age for unrestricted license
- Pass law banning open containers
- Require ignition interlock for every offenders
- Pass an all driver text messaging ban
According to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, crash data from the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration demonstrates the effectiveness of safety regulations. For instance, in 2012, seat belts saved the lives of an estimated 12,174 passengers. The use of safety belts increased in states that passed laws allowing ticketing for failure to wear a safety belt even when no other offense had taken place.
Since 1936, the team of legal professionals at Barrett Law PLLC has represented the victims of all types of car, truck, and motorcycle accidents. At Barrett Law PLLC, we care deeply about the safety of Mississippi drivers and hope to see more important safety regulations passed in the coming years so that our roadways become among the safest in the nation. If you have been injured in an accident, contact Barrett Law PLLC today at 1 (601) 790-1505 for a free consultation.
