On Wisconsin! Badger State Becomes 30th to Enact Critical Seat Belt Law

New Text Message Bans Also Taking Effect

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) congratulates the State of Wisconsin for its passage of a primary seat belt law. This law gives police the authority to pull over a driver solely for not wearing a seat belt. Wisconsin becomes the 30th state to enact this lifesaving law. Based on other states' experiences, Wisconsin can expect its seat belt usage rate to increase 8-12 percentage points and its highway injury and death numbers to significantly decline. Wisconsin joins Florida, Arkansas and Minnesota in passing primary seat belt laws in 2009. All of these laws are now in effect.

On July 1st, new restrictions related to text messaging while driving go into effect in several states. Texting while driving becomes illegal for all drivers in Tennessee, Virginia and Utah. Novice drivers with a provisional or learner's permit will be banned from text messaging while driving in Mississippi. Cell phone and texting while driving restrictions take effect in a number of other states later this year.

GHSA reminds the public that law enforcement will be out in full force this holiday weekend. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, July 3 and July 4 are historically the deadliest days on our roadways. To remedy this, GHSA members, who are the State Highway Safety Offices, are working with police to crack down on drunk drivers, seat belt law violators, speeders and others who drive dangerously. Numerous states are conducting "100 Days of Heat" enforcement crackdowns to provide additional enforcement during the deadly summer driving season.

State highway safety laws are posted online at http://ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/index.html.