Ethan Hooson, road safety

Senate committee gives road safety bills a green light

Sam HautGovernment, Headlines

Ethan Hooson, road safety

Senate committee approves several road safety bills.

A package of road safety bills are, well, moving on down the road.

Four of the six proposed by Gov. John Carney and various Democrats puttered through the Senate Environment, Energy & Transportation Committee Wednesday with little opposition.

All four bills have support from both Democrats and Republicans.

House Bill 92, sponsored by Rep. Bill Carson, D-Smyrna, would require drivers to either change lanes and slow down or just slow down for any stopped cars with their hazard lights on.

Nicole Majeski, secretary of the Delaware Department of Transportation, told the committee that 13  people were killed either in or approaching a vehicle stopped on the side of the road.

Senate committees do not take public votes. Interested parties have to wait and check the bill’s tracking page to see whether and how it passed. 

HB92 received two votes in favor and five votes on its merits, which means that the voter didn’t want to go on record as for or against.

Related Story: Stopped cars would be added to move-over list under bill

Senate Bill 89, sponsored by Sen. Spiros Mantzavinos, D-Elsmere, would allow state-owned snow vehicles to use green lights to be more visible during snow storms. They now are using white or amber light required by law.

Majeski said changing the law could help reduce the number of accidents involving snow plows. In the last five years, there have been 53, she said.

The bill passed with three votes in favor and four on its merits.

Senate Bill 68, sponsored by Sen. Kyle Gay, D-Elsmere, would change the requirements surrounding child car seats, change the penalty for not following the law, and require the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to create an awareness campaign.

“Really, what we’re looking to do here is to update the standards that haven’t been touched in very long,” Gay said. “And I will say as a parent, I have been frontline, I think there’s another parent at this table who has been at the frontlines of this conversation. And…you’d be shocked and realize just how much things have changed. And I think it’s very important that our code reflect what our doctors wish us to have for standards to keep kids safe.” 

The bill would require children under age 16 who haven’t reached the height and weight limit of car seats to sit in a booster seat or child safety seat. Those limits are specific to each car seat, but tend to top out at 120 pounds and 60 inches. Only older children will be allowed to wear a seatbelt. 

Under the bill, children under the age of 2 and weighing less than 30 pounds must be in a rear-facing seat with a five-point harness.

Children under the age of 4 and weighing less than 40 pounds must be in a five-point harness, which can face forward or rear.

Violators would be referred to the Office of Highway Safety car seat fitting station for information on how to properly fit a car seat on the first violation. Any other violation would incur a $25 fin, plus court fees.

Sen. Laura Sturgeon, D-Hockessin, asked hat happens if someone who isn’t the parent picks up the child and doesn’t have a car seat.

“That would be an offense,” Gay said. “But remember that the first offense is a referral…I think what I will say is that the technology is better today, in the sense that they’re easier to install, in and out, more flexible for the car seat to follow the child.”

Eric Buckson, R-Dover, said that it can be frustrating to get children into booster seats.

“This is a big change,” Buckson said. “Not saying it’s a wrong change, big change. And that booster seat, the fight to get them back into that booster seat, that’s a big challenge.”

The bill received seven votes on its merits.

Senate Bill 86, sponsored by Senate President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola, D-Newark, would require new motorcyclists to wear a helmet and eye protection for the first two years of riding a motorcycle.

Majeski said there were 23 motorcycle fatalities last year, with 10 not wearing a helmet.

Jackie McDermott, the motorcycle safety program manager for the Office of Highway Safety, said 2021 saw the highest number of motorcycle fatalities on record, 24. It was a 71% increase in motorcycle fatalities from the previous year. 

Wearing a helmet is “the single most effective way to protect yourself from a head injury,” he said.

The bill received seven votes on its merits.

None of the bills require a fiscal note, and after passing through the committee, they head to the Senate floor.

House Bill 120 and House Bill 119 are also part of Carney’s road safety initiative. The former unanimously passed the House, while the latter has only passed the House Public Safety & Homeland Security committee.

House Bill 120 expands the definition of reckless driving to include people driving 90 miles per hour or more. House Bill 119 adds a civil penalty for having open containers filled with alcohol in their cars.

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