Each day Minnesota physicians see the consequences of the approximately 200,000 traffic crashes that happen in the state each year. To help reduce driving injuries and fatalities, the MMA supports efforts to improve driver safety, including:
- Making failure to wear a seatbelt a primary offense
- Expanding Minnesota's child restraint law to require that all children between the ages of 4 to 8 riding in a vehicle be in booster seats
- Advocating that telephones should not be used by drivers except in the case of an emergency
- Establishing a graduated driver licensing program that would restrict the numberr of teenage passengers allowed in vhicles
- Establishing night time driving restrictions for teen drivers
- Supporting better screening mechanisms to identify at risk drivers