Updated at 8:53 a.m., Monday, January 8, 2007
National highway safety group lauds new Hawai'i laws
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i was singled out by the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety at a press conference in Washington, D.C., this morning for approving two laws in the past year that are among 15 laws the national organization believe are essential to protecting motorists and pedestrians.The two new laws involve booster seats and impaired driving.
Hawai'i raised the the age a child riding in a vehicle must be in a booster or child safety seat from age 3 to age 7, with some exceptions. Violators will be fined up to $500 and must attend a four-hour class on child safety. The law went into effect on Jan. 1.
The state also enacted a stiffer blood-alcohol concentration law that imposes harsher penalties on "highly intoxicated drivers," defined as those with a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 or higher. The harsher penalties include a mandatory six-month revocation of both a person's driver's license and all vehicle registrations. The law takes effect on July 1.
The two new laws helped push Hawai'i into a group of 16 states, plus the District of Columbia, in the organization's "green" category, identified as "best performing" for having at least 11 of their 15 essential laws in place. No state has all 15 laws in place.
To see the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety report, 2007 Roadmap to State Highway Safety Laws, go to the organization's Web site at http://www.saferoads.org/.
