Mass. slow to address rise in road fatalities, safety group says

As Massachusetts lawmakers complete work on a highway safety bill, a national road safety group says the state is “lagging dangerously behind” in addressing a spike in road fatalities. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (AHAS), a Washingtonbased lobbying organization led by consumer groups and major insurance companies, has a wish list of 16 laws that might make a difference. These include tougher seat belt laws for drivers, passengers, and small children, stricter limits on teen driving, and greater restrictions on drunken or drug-impaired driving. But an AHAS report released in December says Massachusetts has enacted only five of the recommended 16 laws. For instance, the state has strong laws requiring helmet use by motorcyclists, requiring booster seats for young children, banning open containers of alcohol, and limiting cell phone use while driving. But AHAS favors more restrictions. The group says police should be permitted to pull over vehicles solely because the driver or passengers aren’t wearing seat belts, for example. Under the current Massachusetts seat belt law, drivers can only be cited if they’re first pulled over for some other offense. Both Governor Charlie Baker and Democratic Representative Rep. William Straus, chairman of the Legislature’s joint committee on transportation, have said they favor such a change in the law. In 2019, Baker submitted legislation to make the change, but the effort was rejected. Other AHAS proposals include mandatory ignition interlocks for anyone convicted of drunken driving, including first-time offenders. Currently in Massachusetts, such interlock systems, which require the driver to pass a breath-alcohol test to start the car, are required for repeat offenders or those who’ve tested at twice the legal limit for bloodalcohol level. Chase said the enactment of such laws could help turn the tide in traffic fatalities, which have spiked in the United States, US, and Massachusetts, since the COVID pandemic. According to the National Safety Council, Massachusetts logged 319 traffic deaths in the first nine months of 2022. That’s up 7 percent from the same time period in 2021 and 32 percent compared to the 241 deaths in the first nine months of 2020. The organization says that the increase in auto deaths in Massachusetts from 2020 to 2022 is the third-highest of all US states. — HIAWATHA BRAY