Wyoming one of Worst States for highway safety laws
New study by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
by Pinedale Online!
January 9, 2007
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (AHAS), an alliance of consumer, health and safety groups and insurance companies, released its fourth annual highway safety report on January 8th. The report, “2007 Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws,” includes ratings for each state and the District of Columbia on their adoption of 15-proven-effective laws to significantly reduce death and injury on the nation’s roads.
The report rates states as Green, Yellow or Red, depending on their degree of adoption of safety measures and laws regarding safety behavior: seat belt use, motorcycle helmet use, child booster seat use, teen driving and impaired driving. Wyoming was one of three states that rated in their “Red” category, meaning little or no legislative progress to improve safety issues. The other two "Red" states were Arkansas and South Dakota.
The organization created a new category this year for “Worst Performing States” to identify “the historically lowest rated states that have made little or no legislative progress in recent years.” Four states were identified in this category, with Wyoming being one of them. The other three states were Arizona, Arkansas and South Dakota.
The organization releases their study to coincide with every state legislature opening their 2007 sessions because, they say on their websitse, “motor vehicle crashes continue to be the number one killer of Americans ages 4 to 34.”
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is based in Washington, D.C. It is an alliance of groups and organizations “working together to make America’s roads safer”. AHAS encourages the adoption of federal and state laws, policies and programs that save lives and reduce injuries. The organization works to build coalitions to increase the participation in public policy initiatives which advance highway and auto safety.
Related Links:
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
New Study Finds Mounting Deaths and Minimal Progress as Key Highway Safety Laws Hit Roadblocks in Most State Capitals (1/8/07, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, www.saferoads.org)
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