More safety laws needed

Utah has made some fantastic strides toward improving highway safety. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, a national alliance of consumers, health-care providers and insurance companies, recently lauded Utah as one of only 11 states to have enacted all seven "optimal" drunken driving laws.

As much as that distinction should be celebrated, the state's failure to enact a primary seat-belt law, require motorcyclists to wear helmets or require booster seats for children 4-8 years old, drops the state's highway safety rating to the middle of the pack, according to the alliance.

These issues have been debated time and again in Utah's statehouse. Generally speaking, opponents of these traffic-safety measures contend that such regulations infringe on personal freedom. When weighed against the potential to save large numbers of lives and reduce injuries from motor-vehicle crashes, that argument is wearing thin.

The use of seat belts, motorcycle helmets and booster seats increase the odds of survival in the event of a motor-vehicle accident. Some 40,000 people have been killed in motor-vehicle crashes in the United States every year since 1992, and more than 3 million more were injured. Obviously, much more must be done to improve traffic safety.

If public-policy makers are still stuck on the "personal choice" philosophy, perhaps they will be moved by the societal costs of motor-vehicle crashes. Kemper Insurance estimates that health care, legal expenses, property damage and lost productivity from car crashes costs every American nearly $800 a year. Employers pick up about one-third of the tab. The American Public Health Association estimates the total cost to society is some $230 billion a year.

This likely explains company and government policies that require employees to wear seat belts while traveling on business. If these requirements were codified in state law, the savings to the larger society would be profound.

Although Utah has made considerable progress in passing laws intended to improve the safety of its streets and highways, it needs to take additional steps that will enhance the drunken-driving laws passed in recent years.

The federal government requires automobile makers and tire manufacturers to continually refine vehicles and tires to optimize safety on the roadways. Unless the states require people to use the required safety devices, such as seat belts, they are quite limited in their means to protect human life.

Some state lawmakers plan to revive these issues during the upcoming general session of the Utah Legislature. We hope legislators will carefully consider the public safety improvements and financial savings that could be achieved from measures that, most important, limit injuries and save lives.