Editorial

New traffic laws make good sense

Members of the Missouri Legislature obviously were thinking about motorists' safety when they passed a catch-all bill that includes several measures having to do with driving and traffic.

The good news: In his statewide pre-veto tour this month, Gov. Bob Holden didn't mention anything about nixing it.

The bill started with a local state representative, Scott Lipke of Jackson, who sponsored a two-page bill to require the Missouri Department of Transportation to fairly compensate landowners in his hometown for loss of road access caused by the redesign of 3.5 miles of Highway 34-72.

MoDOT officials have said their plan for Highway 34-72 would directly affect road access to 26 homes and six businesses. The same bill would apply to similar MoDOT transactions across the state.

When the measure returned from the Senate, it was a 180-page omnibus traffic regulations bill.

Even so, the bill passed 107-26 in the House of Representatives and 31-0 in the Senate.

Among the provisions are laws that will affect every road-using Missourian. If signed by Holden, the provisions would go into effect Aug. 28.

Suspended licenses for speeders under 18. Young drivers would lose eight points off their licenses after a first offense of driving at least 20 mph over the speed limit, and they would lose 12 points for second and subsequent offenses. Because state law mandates 30-day license suspensions for accumulating eight points or more in 18 months, the law is basically an automatic suspension for egregious speeders under age 18.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is behind the law because, in 2001, excessive speed was blamed in 43 percent of all fatal crashes involving drivers under age 21.

Now it's up to parents and friends of lead-footed young people to let them know such an outcome awaits them.

Fingerprinting for bus driver applicants. Such applicants would have to submit a set of fingerprints to the Missouri State Highway Patrol and a set to the FBI beginning in July 2004. Obviously, such checks are going to keep our bus-riding young people safer.

No left lanes for heavy trucks. Trucks weighing more than 48,000 pounds will be banned from the far left lanes on highways that have at least three lanes going in each direction. The Missouri State Highway Patrol believes this will alleviate some traffic problems, especially when these heavy trucks slowly strain to get up hills side-by-side.

Obviously, this rule would help with wear and tear on those lanes as well.

All of these laws seem reasonable and should be signed into law.

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