Traffic safety laws lacking in Pennsylvania

The Keystone State “needs improvement” when it comes to adopting laws to prevent fatalities, a report says.

The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has occupied headlines during the past year with rising deaths and public concern. Traffic safety and highway deaths have understandably taken a back seat to the public health crisis of the coronavirus, but that doesn’t mean driving safety concerns have gone away. In fact a recent study offers cause for concern in Pennsylvania.

The Keystone State ranks yellow, which means “needs improvement,” when it comes to adopting highway safety laws to prevent fatalities, according to the 18th annual Roadmap of State Highways and Safety Law report. Pennsylvania has only seven of the 16 laws recommended by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, the analysis found.

In Pennsylvania, there were 1,059 fatalities on roads in 2019. With 49 fatalities, Berks County ranked third behind Philadelphia and Allegheny counties.

The primary areas of deficiency in Pennsylvania pertain to enforcing seat belt, motorcycle helmet and teenage driving laws, according to the report.

In the category of seat belt usage, Pennsylvania is behind other states because it does not have primary enforcement of seat belt laws, which would allow police to stop vehicles when they see drivers or passengers not wearing seat belts. Police can issue seat belt violation tickets only when a vehicle is already stopped for other violations. The state also does not require children over the age of 2 to ride in a booster seat.

The law is more stringent for new drivers: Drivers and occupants in a vehicle who are under the age of 18 must wear a properly adjusted and fastened seat belt, and children under the age of eight must be securely fastened in a child restraint system, according to teen driving reforms enacted in 2011. Failure to comply with the law’s seat belt provisions is a primary offense, and a teen driver can be pulled over and cited solely for that violation.

However, teens do not have stricter rules regarding cell phone use, an area in which Pennsylvania falls short.

“Cellphones are a distraction for all drivers,” said Exeter Township police Sgt. David M. Bentz, Berks County coordinator for the North Central DUI Enforcement Program. Currently, Pennsylvania law prohibits texting but not talking on a cell phone, a safety rule that many traffic safety advocates have encouraged.

In some cases, the safety report notes Pennsylvania has laws on the books for the intended safety measures but they don’t go far enough.

Pennsylvania’s interlock law became effective Aug. 25, 2017, but the law does not meet the criteria provided by the advocates group for all drunken driving offenders to install an interlock device regardless of their blood-alcohol content. The law only applies to first-time and repeat offenders with high blood-alcohol levels and for individuals who receive an operating privilege suspension as a result of a chemical test refusal violation or conviction for illegally operating a motor vehicle not equipped with Ignition Interlock system.

In the category of teen driving laws, Pennsylvania made progress in 2011 with the passage of reforms that require 65 hours of supervised driving with a permit before testing for a license, a six-month period in which a teen may not drive with more than one unrelated passenger under 18 unless accompanied by a parent or guardian, and other graduated licensing requirements. Ten of the added training hours must consist of nighttime driving, while five additional hours must be driven in poor weather conditions.

Tara DeStefano, community traffic project coordinator for the Pottsville-based Highway Safety Network, said Pennsylvania still has room for improvement. “In the areas where we are lacking, we always promote the safety aspect,” DeStefano said.

As an example, DeStefano said even though Pennsylvania doesn’t have primary enforcement of seat belt laws, the traffic safety organizations always emphasize why it’s important for everyone in a vehicle to buckle up for every ride. The advocates also emphasize the risk of death and injury when motorcyclists and their passengers don’t wear helmets. Pennsylvania does not require motorcycle riders over 21, or those who completed a motorcycle safety class, to wear a helmet.

The overriding public health crisis in which we find ourselves does not mean we can ignore traffic safety or fail to pass laws that help prevent injury and death. If there’s one thing this pandemic has taught us it’s that we are not always in control when it comes to health and safety, but we can at least put in place smart and effective laws to prevent injuries and deaths.

Pennsylvania has some work to do to improve our safety grades and save lives on the road. We urge lawmakers to take this analysis seriously and improve laws for the safety of all Pennsylvanians.