NTSB Recommends All States Mandate Motorcycle Helmets
The National Transportation Safety Board has called on all states to mandate motorcycle helmets to reduce the numbers of deaths in motorcycle accidents every year. The federal agency made the recommendation as part of its annual “Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety.” The list outlines a series of recommendations that the federal agency directs to states across the country. This year, the board seems to have focused on motorcycle helmet recommendations in place of recreational boating safety.
The NTSB list identifies those states that have made great progress in protecting the motorcycling public. It also names those states that still have more work to do to keep motorcyclists and other motorists safer. Georgia has mandatory motorcycle helmet laws for all motorcyclists.
Besides motorcycle safety, the NTSB List is calling for
·Improved child protection – laws requiring booster seats for children up to the age of eight
·Primary seatbelt enforcement laws
·Elimination of distracted driving among teen drivers
·Elimination of hard-core drinking – including the introduction of statewide sobriety checkpoints, zero blood alcohol requirements for persons with DUI convictions, vehicle sanctions for repeat offenders, and administrative license revocation
In Georgia, we could definitely do with more efforts against distracted driving among teen drivers. Over the past few months, Atlanta car accident attorneys have come across a number of fatal and serious accidents involving teenage drivers. Georgia’s transportation agencies must also consider stronger rules for the number of passengers teen motorists can have, as well as nighttime driving restrictions for these motorists.
As Atlanta car accident lawyers, we would also like to see more enforcement of the new laws banning texting while driving for motorists. We also need more efforts against hard-core drinkers and repeat drunk driving offenders. Several recent accidents in Atlanta have involved motorists with previous DWI convictions.