California Ranked Well on Highway Safety Measures

From tougher drunk driving measures to more restrictions on teen drivers, there is much that could be done to keep California motorists safer. However, the state has been ranked well overall in highway safety by an auto safety group.

The rating was compiled by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, and compared states based on whether their highway safety laws include at least 15 laws that are recommended by the group. These laws include everything from seatbelt laws to laws against distracted driving.

California was given a Green ranking, which is the highest rating by the group. The ranking indicates that the state has performed well in implementing laws aimed at speeding motorists safer. San Francisco car accident lawyers agree with this. After all, California was one of the first states in the country to enact laws against the use of hand-held cell phones and texting while driving. The state has also implemented all -occupant seatbelt laws aimed at keeping all occupants of a vehicle safer during an accident. Thanks to pressure by San Francisco car accident attorneys, auto safety groups and citizens groups, California lawmakers for the most part, have been quite enthusiastic about implementing safety laws.

However, the state could be doing more to keep motorists safer on highways. According to the rating, the state has implemented 9.5 laws required by the group. The laws that the state should now take up include a law requiring a minimum age of 16 for a person to obtain a learner's permit, nighttime and passenger restrictions in graduated driver’s licensing programs for teenage drivers, a requirement of 18 for teenage drivers who wish to get an unrestricted license and an ignition interlock law.

Having an ignition interlock law could reduce the number of drunk driving accidents that take place in the state every year. Laws aimed at keeping teen drivers safer are important in a state where single-user vehicles are the norm.