Group says state’s highway safety laws need strengthening

Suzanne Struglinski

Thursday, Dec. 16, 2004 | 9:55 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada needs tougher seat belt use laws and better rules for teenagers learning to drive, safety advocates said at a press conference this morning.

The state Legislature can act to make such laws, and advocates want to tie federal highway money to their enactment as an incentive.

Nevada is one of 29 states that does not have a law that allows police to pull a driver over for simply not wearing a seat belt, according to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. Police can issue a ticket for not wearing a seat belt only after a motorist pulled over for another reason, the highway safety organization's president, Judith Lee Stone, said.

But in states where police can pull over and ticket people who they see are not wearing seat belts, there has been a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in seat belt after the adoption of that law, she said.

Stone said her group is not giving up on state-level lawmakers to get tougher laws but is also working with Congress to withhold federal highway money until such laws are passed. Congress still needs to reauthorize highway programs for the next six years and Stone is hoping some of the group's requests can be included in the massive transportation bill.

In addition to the seat belt law, Nevada is missing three of the group's 14 other recommended highway and auto safety requirements, according to a report released by the group today.

It also wants to see a law restricting unsupervised driving by teenagers from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and a six-month period when new teen drivers can not drive without adult supervision. The group does not approve of a reduced time frame if a student takes a driver's education course.

Nevada already requires 30-50 hours of training and limits teen drivers from having teen passengers without adult supervision.

Nevada also lacks a booster seat law for children up to 8 years old, according to the report.

Stone said opposition to seat belt laws and some other laws stems from beliefs in personal freedoms.

She said some people believe it should be their personal choice on whether to wear a seat belt, not forced by the government while others argue a primary seat belt law could lead to police harassment.