Pa. gets lowest grade for traffic safety laws

When it comes to highway safety, a recalcitrant Pennsylvania earned the equivalent of a dunce cap in 2010, a national coalition said Monday.

In its annual state-by-state report card, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety gave Pennsylvania - where cellphone-toting, unbelted drivers can chat or text without fear of tickets - a 'red light' for the second year in a row.

The red light category, the lowest of the Advocates' three ratings, signals a dangerous deficit of safety laws. Yellow suggests that improvement is needed, and green represents good legislation. Both New Jersey and Delaware earned green lights.

The group, a coalition of insurance companies, consumer, health, and safety organizations, based its analysis on whether states had enacted 15 life-saving laws. They included restrictions on handheld cell phones and teen drivers, and requirements for motorcycle helmets, seat belts, booster seats, and an ignition interlock for anyone convicted of drunken-driving, not just repeat offenders.

"Pennsylvania had this great reputation for safety years ago," said Judith L. Stone, executive director of the Washington-based group. "I don't know where that went."

Stone said she is hoping states that have resisted safe-driving measures will have more incentive this year. Her group has always touted the economic benefits of life-saving laws, but with so many states in financial distress, she hopes the message will resonate, she said.

"It's a no-brainer," she said. "Any governor trying to curb costs ought to look at these laws."

The federal government estimates that motor-vehicle crashes, which killed 34,000 in 2009, cost society $230 billion a year, said Stone.

Last year, Pennsylvania lawmakers spent months wrangling over a teen-driving bill that would have banned cell phones and texting; mandated seatbelts; limited teen drivers to one non-family, teen passenger; and increased from 50 to 65 the number of hours of driver's education required for a license.

The bill was eventually so watered down that several sponsors abandoned it before it died at the end of the session.