Maryland ranks high on safety report card
Maryland ranked among the top four states on the annual report card issued by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety Tuesday, with a boost from its recently adopted ban on text-messaging behind the wheel.
The state was given credit for adopting 11 1/2 of the 15 model laws the auto safety group has recommended that states adopt. Achieving a high score in the ranking has become more difficult as the group has ratcheted up its goals for tougher laws.
Ranking first in safety in this year's list was the District of Columbia, which was credited with adopting 13 1/2 of the model laws. New Jersey and Illinois also scored higher than Maryland. At the bottom was South Dakota, with only three of the recommended laws.
The laws cover such areas as required safety devices (seat belts and motorcycle helmets), child passenger safety, teen driving, drunk-driving and distracted driving.
Areas in which the group said Maryland fell short were its failure to set 16 as the minimum age for a learner's permit (it did raise the bar to 15 years, 9 months), passenger and cell phone restrictions on teen drivers and an ignition interlock requirement for all drunk drivers.
Maryland improved its score by adopting the texting ban and by raising its minimum age for an unrestricted license to 18 in 2009.
