A new Hawai'i law that requires booster seats for older children and another that imposes harsher penalties for impaired drivers put the state at the forefront of highway safety, an advocacy group said yesterday.

The group, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, singled out the state at a news conference in Washington, D.C., for approving two laws in the past year that are among 15 laws the national organization believe are essential to protecting motorists and pedestrians.

Hawai'i raised the age a child riding in a vehicle must be in a booster or child safety seat from 3 to 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 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 www.saferoads.org.