USA - Safety advocate group includes helmet laws in 15-item list

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.examiner.com/motorcycles-in-national/safety-advocate-group-includes-helmet-laws-15-item-list Safety advocate group includes helmet laws in 15-item list
  Ken Bingenheimer, Motorcycles Examiner
.Arguing that "Families are paying with their lives and their wallets when elected officials fail to act," the group Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety yesterday issued a report calling on all states to pass legislation in 15 areas that they say would close "unacceptable and deadly gaps in their traffic safety laws." The group identifies itself as "an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies and agents working together to make America's roads safer."
Among those 15 areas are several that most motorcyclists would probably support and one, mandatory helmet laws for all riders, that is guaranteed to meet substantial biker resistance. Others include such things as progressively staging teen drivers' permissions so that they only gradually gain full driving privileges; requiring ignition interlock systems for all convicted drunk drivers; prohibiting text messaging while driving for all drivers; and allowing police to stop drivers solely for failure to wear seatbelts.
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The report, entitled "The 2012 Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws," also scores the states on their current safety laws. New York gets the group's highest rating, with 13 of the 15 already in place, while South Dakota gets the lowest rating with only 3 of the 15 in place.
The 15 recommendations are:
Adult Occupant Protection
Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Law - Allows law enforcement officers to stop and ticket the driver when they see a violation of the seat belt law for front seat occupants. No other violation need occur first to take action. Ratings are based on front seat occupants only. No state without this law may receive a “green” overall rating.
All-Rider Motorcycle Helmet Law - Requires all motorcycle riders, regardless of age, to use a helmet that meets U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) standards or face a fine.
Child Passenger Safety
Booster Seat Law - Requires, at a minimum, that children ages four through seven be placed in a child restraint system (booster seat) that is certified to meet U.S. DOT safety standards. States are given half credit for booster seat laws that do not cover children through age seven.
Teen Driving
Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) programs allow novice teen drivers to learn to drive under lower risk conditions, and consist of a learner's stage, an intermediate stage and then an unrestricted driving license. The learner’s stage requires teen drivers to complete a minimum number of months of adult-supervised driving in order to move to the next phase and drive unsupervised. The intermediate stage restricts teens from driving in high-risk situations for a specified period of time before receiving a full license. Advocates rates state GDL laws on seven key safety components identified in research and data analysis:
Learner’s Stage: Minimum Age 16 for Learner’s Permit - A beginning teen driver is prohibited from obtaining a learner’s permit until the age of 16. States have not been given credit if the law allows for a beginning driver to obtain a learner’s permit before the age of 16.
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. States have not been given credit if the length of the holding period is less than six months, or if there is a reduction in the length of the holding period for drivers who take a driver education course.
Learner’s Stage: 30-50 Hours of Supervised Driving Provision - A beginning teen driver must receive at least 30-50 hours of behind-the-wheel training with an adult licensed driver during the learner’s stage. States have not been given credit if the number of required supervised driving hours is less than 30, or if there is a reduction in the required number of hours of supervised driving for drivers who take a driver education course.
Intermediate Stage: Nighttime Driving Restriction Provision - Unsupervised driving should be prohibited from at least 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Half credit is awarded for nighttime restrictions that do not fully meet this criterion. passengers who may legally ride with a teen driver without adult supervision. The optimal limit is no more than one non-familial teenage passenger. Half credit is awarded for passenger restrictions that do not fully meet this criterion.
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-familial teenage passenger. Half credit is awarded for passenger restrictions that do not fully meet this criterion.
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. States are only given credit if the provision lasts for the entire duration of the GDL program (both learner’s and intermediate stages). Half-credit is given to a state if the cell phone restriction bans hand-held, hands-free, or text messaging, but not all three.
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. States have not been given credit if teen drivers can obtain an unrestricted license before the age of 18.
Impaired Driving
Ignition Interlock Devices (IID) - This law mandates the installation of ignition interlock devices on the vehicles of any convicted drunk driving offender. Advocates has given credit for laws that require the use of ignition interlock devices for all offenders. Several states (CO, IL and OR) have also been given credit for having laws that provide strong incentives for all offenders to use ignition interlock devices. Note: While Advocates has given half-credit in previous years for laws that require the use of ignition interlock devices only for repeat offenders, states with these laws are no longer receiving credit in this report in order to emphasize the importance of IIDs for all convicted drunk driving offenders.
Child Endangerment - This law enhances an existing penalty for an impaired driving offender who endangers a minor. No credit is given if this law applies only to drivers who are under 21 years of age.
Mandatory Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) Testing for Killed and Surviving Drivers - These separate statutes require the BAC testing of the driver of a vehicle involved in a fatal crash regardless of whether the driver survived the crash or was killed in the crash. Full credit is given for laws that require both. Half-credit is given if a state requires testing in one case, but not both.
Open Container - This law prohibits open containers of alcohol in the passenger area of a motor vehicle. To comply with federal requirements, the law must: prohibit both possession of any open alcoholic beverage container and the consumption of alcohol from an open container; apply to the entire passenger area of any motor vehicle; apply to all vehicle occupants except for passengers of buses, taxi cabs, limousines or persons in the living quarters of motor homes; apply to vehicles on the shoulder of public highways; and, require primary enforcement of the law. State laws are counted in this report only if they are in compliance with the federal law and regulation.
Distracted Driving
All-Driver Text Messaging Restriction - This law prohibits all drivers from entering, reading or otherwise retrieving data from any handheld or electronic data communication device, except in the case of an emergency.