COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio continues to rank poorly on a national survey when it comes to its traffic safety laws.
Ohio ranked near the bottom in an annual report released Thursday by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which examined whether or not states have enacted a list of 16 specific laws that can reduce traffic fatalities.
Ohio has enacted five of the 16 laws, ranking below South Dakota (two laws), Wyoming (three laws), and Missouri and Montana (four laws) and tying with Arizona.
The areas that caused Ohio’s driving laws to rank poorly included:
- Seatbelts — The study faults Ohio for not requiring people in both the front and back seats to wear seatbelts. In Ohio, only drivers and and passengers in the front seat must wear seatbelts. The study also faults Ohio law for not making the failure to wear a seatbelt a primary offense, which would allow police to pull someone over and ticket them solely for not wearing one.
- Motorcycle helmets — The study faults Ohio for not requiring all riders on a motorcycle to wear helmets. Ohio only requires helmets for passengers and operators 18 or younger, or for operators who only have been licensed for less than a year.
- Teen drivers — Ohio got dinged for issuing learner’s permits to drivers younger than 16 years old. In Ohio, teens can get a learner’s permit at 15 1/2. It also faults Ohio for how it restricts nighttime driving for drivers younger than 18.
Ohio’s nighttime restrictions begin at midnight, while the study’s authors favor restrictions beginning at 10 p.m.State lawmakers are considering raising the licensing age from 16 to 16 1/2, and moving the nighttime restrictions to 10 p.m. A bill doing so cleared the Ohio House Transportation and Public Safety Committee in October with bipartisan support, but has yet to receive a vote by the full House. During committee debate, some legislators who voted no questioned whether the additional restrictions would discourage teens from driving or prevent them from maturing as quickly.
- Texting — Texting while driving in Ohio is illegal, but the study faults Ohio for not making it a primary offense. Gov. Mike DeWine earlier this month announced his support for making texting while driving a primary offense, which was a recommendation from a distracted-driving task force assembled in 2018.
A DeWine spokesman said Thursday the governor plans to make an announcement about the distracted-driving group’s recommendations soon. He also said the state Department of Transportation has made Ohio’s roads safer by prioritizing dangerous intersections for upgrades. DeWine last year cited road safety while arguing in favor of a hike in the state’s gas tax to pay for road and bridge upkeep and construction.
State Rep. Mary Lightbody, a Democrat from suburban Columbus, earlier this month introduced a bill that would make texting while driving a primary offense. But the bill has no Republican co-sponsors, a bad sign for its viability in the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is a non-profit in Washington D.C. that advocates for stricter traffic laws. It was founded by a collection of consumer groups and insurance companies.