FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Tina Whitlow 270-781-8039, ext. 185
New Laws Promise Fewer Teen Traffic Deaths in Our Area
It’s a sad fact of life for high schools throughout our area. Each year an average of five teens die in motor vehicle crashes on our roadways. That mean that at least five families will be devastated, and several hundred fellow students will suffer shock, loss and grief.
But the saddest thing is that not all of these deaths are inevitable. Nor are the approximately 600 serious injuries each year among teens due to motor vehicle crashes in our area. Two new laws passed by the Kentucky legislature this Spring should make an enormous difference. Effective July 1, 2006, Kentucky will have a ‘Primary’ seat belt law. This means that drivers can be stopped and ticketed for not being buckled up, even if the driver has broken no other traffic regulations.
National statistics indicate that a primary seat belt law will increase the driver seat belt usage rate by at least 14%. In Kentucky, that’s another 253,260 drivers wearing seat belts each year. Currently 25 states have a primary seat belt law. States are implementing this relatively simple measure in recognition that seat belts reduce your risk of being killed during a crash by at least 50%. Currently, observational surveillance by staff of the Barren River District Health Department finds that teens and young adults are the least likely of all local drivers to use seat belts.
The second new law, going into effect October 1, upgrades Kentucky’s Graduated Driver’s Licensing regulations from a partial to a full program. Currently, new drivers can receive a fully unrestricted driver’s license after the six-month learners permit phase. Anyone applying for a learner’s permit after October 1 will have a second 6-month phase added during which their driver’s license will have two restrictions. They cannot drive between midnight and 6 AM, and they can have no more than one passenger in the vehicle who is under age 20.
The midnight curfew is designed to address the highest-risk period of the day for teen driver fatalities. A restriction on teen or child passengers (with the exception of siblings) is to help prevent driver distraction, a leading cause of vehicle crashes.
“As public health director, I am pleased to see these laws finally being passed,” stated Dennis Chaney, Director of the Barren River District Health Department, “We should see a significant reduction of deaths and serious injuries from motor vehicle crashes, especially among teens. We will report these changes to the public.
“As a parent of three young children, I grieve each time we learn of another serious vehicle crash. Too many parents must suffer the unbearable loss when a teen is killed or permanently disabled in a vehicle crash. Public health and law enforcement officials believe that these two laws are a giant step toward significantly preventing these tragic losses.”
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PROMOTE • PROTECT • PREVENT
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