DC and Maryland lead in traffic safety — but Virginia lags behind

When it comes to laws aimed at keeping drivers and passengers safe D C and Maryland are ahead of Virginia according to a new review from Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety But all three jurisdictions have room to improve Related stories Local advocates push for safer streets in honor of lost loved ones Cities and states are turning to AI to improve road safety Bethesda to DC bike ride rolls out Sunday to promote street safety The group s Roadmap to Safety assessment gives D C and Maryland its highest rating of green while Virginia earned a yellow rating D C and Maryland each have at least eight of the recommended safety laws on the books compared to just four in Virginia These laws cover everything from protecting passengers to preventing impaired driving and reducing red-light running mentioned Cathy Chase president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety D C and Maryland got the strongest rating of green and Virginia got a rating of yellow So particular work requirements to be done in the Commonwealth Chase noted Among the improvements needed in Virginia include a need for a strong seat belt law Seat belt use is so key because it s the first line of defense when you re in a crash she declared Even in D C where things look good Chase declared there s room for improvement Particular of the improvements that are needed are with child client safety and with teen drivers Also it s of note that in D C last year approximately nearly people were killed on the roadways That s not an insignificant number Chase noted The statement also highlights the economic toll of crashes which equates to over billion annually in Virginia billion in Maryland and roughly million in D C Nationwide the economic impact is a staggering billion a year according to the U S Department of Transportation That amounts to approximately a crash tax on every taxpayer of Chase announced Missouri ranked the worst among all states with zero optional laws on the books followed by Wyoming Montana and Nebraska Oregon ranked the best with laws followed by D C and Washington state which both have nine laws in effect Among the recommendations for all three jurisdictions is requiring young drivers to log hours of supervised driving before getting a license and adding nighttime driving restrictions Chase commented those strategies help teens build skills safely These are all put into place so that teens can practice behind the wheel Every day they ll practice basketball or soccer so that they get better and better The same thing demands to happen with driving she noted The review also calls for laws in the D C region that require children to ride in the back seat through age Source