STATE HIT FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY-LAW LAG COMPLACENCY BLAMED FOR RISE IN DEATHS.

Byline: SUE DOYLE Staff Writer

California's failure in recent years to pass any highway safety laws recommended by a national consumer safety and insurance coalition is contributing to the country's mounting death toll on roadways, according to a report released by the group Monday.

Nearly 43,500 people were killed in 2005 on America's highways -- a 13-year high, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, which attributed the spike to political complacency.

It added that lawmakers made dismal progress last year to make streets safer.

``Public and government outrage seems muted given the scale of loss to our society,'' said Judith Lee Stone, president of the Washington, D.C.-based coalition that represents 20 major consumer, insurance and health organizations and focuses on highway safety public policy.

In its fourth annual report, the group ranks states based on 15 model laws that it wants passed and considers basic strategies to reduce highway deaths and injuries. Laws are related to seat belts and motorcycle helmet enforcements, child safety, drunk driving and teen drivers. Release of the report is timed to coincide with the start of new legislative sessions.

The coalition's recommended measures call for stiffer drunk-driving penalties, prohibiting new teen drivers from using cell phones except for 911 calls, requiring children under 8 to ride in car booster seats and an all-rider motorcycle-helmet requirement. No state has adopted all of the measures.

Although California has passed 12 of the coalition's proposals, it stands to lose its status as a best-performing state -- the highest ranking that 15 other states on Monday received -- since it hasn't passed any additional recommendations for the past four years, said Jacqueline Gillan, vice president of the coalition.

Gillan said California is close to reaching the goal of passing all 15 laws that the group considers a minimum for highway safety, but that over time the state has slowed efforts to do so.

In September, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill to raise the mandatory age requirement for children in car booster seats from 6 to 8. The National Transportation Safety Board also urged its passage.

In his veto message, Schwarzenegger said the specific measure would do little to protect children and that a better approach is to educate parents to comply with the existing law.

A state Senate bill aimed at banning cell-phone use by teen drivers with provisional licenses also failed in 2004.

In addition, some state lawmakers have strived through the years to repeal a 1992 law requiring all motorcycle riders to wear helmets.

Since California enacted its helmet law, the rate of motorcyclists hospitalized for head injuries decreased by 48 percent in 1993 compared with 1991, and total costs for patients with head injuries dropped by $20.5 million during the same period, according to a 1998 report from the Journal of Trauma.

``To come somewhat close to repealing it -- it doesn't make sense at all,'' Gillan said. ``Unless the state has millions of dollars in surplus, I'm not sure why they would even consider that.''

In 2005, there were 4,329 deaths on California roadways. Car crashes annually cost the state's economy $20.66 billion, according to the report.

Across the country, car crashes annually cost more than $230 billion in medical and property bills, an amount equal to a $792 tax on every U.S. resident, Gillan said.

``I can think of no other public health epidemic killing and injuring so many of our children and young adults that is treated in such a cavalier manner by our state lawmakers,'' Gillan said. ``Americans are paying the price with their families and pocketbooks.''

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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