New road safety legislation proposed on Beacon Hill

BOSTON — Proposed new road safety legislation on Beacon Hill Monday.

It would give police officers the power to pull someone over for not wearing a seatbelt. The goal is to cut down on unnecessary deaths behind the wheel, a proposal AAA in the Northeast supports.

“We know that if we were to pass a primary seatbelt law, we would see an increase in compliance of roughly eight percent, more people buckling up and that would translate to saving 14 lives every single year in MA, preventing more than 500 life altering injuries ever single year,” said Mary Maguire of AAA Northeast.

One proposal that is already creating buzz is red light cameras.

The provision would not make it mandatory, but would allow cities and towns to opt-in and put red light cameras at intersections.

“This would allow communities to fine the registered owner of the car that runs a red light – the cameras would be restricted to collect photographs only upon a violation and only of the vehicle license plate. The violation would include running a red light and making an illegal turn on a red light,” said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito

Another proposal is Haley’s Law, named after Haley Cremer, who was killed by a driver with a suspended license.

The measure would increase penalties for those who injure someone while behind the wheel with a suspended license.

Cox Media Group