California, New York top injury prevention ratings report
California and New York were recently ranked at the top of a new traffic safety report issued by the Trust for America’s Health. The report, titled “The Facts Hurt: A State-by-State Injury Prevention Policy Report,” ranks states based on the number of recommended accident prevention laws the state enforces. Currently both California and New York have implemented nine out of the 10 laws the report recommends, including child safety seat requirements, drunken driving deterrents, and monitoring prescription medications for indications of abuse. The state of Utah, however, ranked 21st in the nation, a ranking that has state safety experts speculating on whether the state’s laws do enough to protect its citizens. While the state received positive affirmation for its emergency room tracking policy and its law that a child suspected of suffering a concussion at a sporting event must be taken out of the game and receive a full checkup before returning to practice, but the report criticized Utah, along with 17 other states, for not requiring adults to wear safety belts in moving automobiles as a primary concern, meaning a driver over the age of 19 cannot be cited for failure to wear a seatbelt unless he or she has already been pulled over for another, primary, traffic violation. In addition, the state does not require adult motorcyclists or bicyclists of any age to wear safety helmets when out on the road.
