ST. PAUL
Minnesota has made the greatest progress of any state in enacting laws aimed at making roads safer, according to a report Wednesday by the Emergency Nurses Association.
"(Minnesotans) are the real stars when you look at who's improved from 2008 to 2010," said Anthony Phipps, an association spokesman. "They went from the bottom third to the top third in two years, and that's real impressive. Clearly they saw the light."
The association's "national scorecard on state roadway laws" scored each state and the District of Columbia on roadway safety. The scores were based on 14 types of legislation that address seat-belt use, child passenger safety, graduated driver licensing for teens, all-rider motorcycle helmet requirements, ignition interlock devices to prevent drunken driving, distracted driving, and the authority to develop, maintain and evaluate a state trauma system.
The distracted driving law was added this year to the report, which began in 2006. Distracted driving involves drivers entering, sending, reading or retrieving data using cell phones or other interactive wireless communication devices.
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States got 1 point for each type of legislation, up to 14 points.
Minnesota increased its score from 5 in 2008 to 11 this year.
The state racked up new points for legislation on seat-belt use, child passenger safety and the new distracted driving criteria.
Minnesota was awarded 2 points for allowing police to ticket drivers not wearing a seat belt without another traffic offense and for the law applying to all rear-seat occupants.
The state was also awarded 3 points for requiring child passengers to be restrained in a booster seat, requiring the use of the booster seat until age 8 and requiring children younger than 16 to wear a seat belt.
Minnesota was "ahead of the curve on distracted driving," Phipps said, and it received a point for making it illegal for drivers to text while their vehicle is in motion or part of traffic, such as at a stoplight.
The state lacks legislation for all-rider motorcycle helmet requirements and interlock devices.
Wisconsin met 12 of the 14 roadway and injury prevention criteria, adding 4 points to its 2008 score. The new laws included primary enforcement of seat-belt laws and mandating installation of an ignition interlock device for "hard-core drinking drivers," the report said.
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North Dakota, the lowest-scoring state, received 4 points and was the only state to make no progress from the first report in 2006.
Two states, Oregon and Washington, were the only ones to get all 14 points.
A national professional organization, the Emergency Nurses Association represents 34,000 nurses working in emergency medicine.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
