New traffic laws are emerging. It’s part of us adopting into the new changes of the world. Sometimes these are new in the senate, while some others are a reiteration of old laws. Regardless of how they changed or created these laws, you need to know about them.
The U.S. is a land of traffic. About 90% of the population owns at least one vehicle. It’s also a land of laws, as democracy tries to ensure the safety of its commuters. This is why the country has one of the most diverse traffic laws that account for every situation. Some of these laws can certainly be weird, but they have their purpose.
This year is the pandemic, but this didn’t stop Congress from passing new road regulations. One of them being the Biden administration’s executive order to make half the vehicles sold in the U.S. to be electric.
Electric Vehicles of the Future
Although this isn’t necessarily a traffic law, it’s an important law that will affect what happens on the road. In addition, it will affect most people who are planning to purchase a vehicle this year and in the coming future.
We all know that climate change is becoming one of the most important crises we have to handle today, next to the pandemic. This is why the Biden administration is planning to sign an executive order that pushes many auto-manufacturing companies to have electric vehicles for sale by 2030. The general plan is to have half of the vehicle sales be electric vehicles by 2030.
Families don’t need to purchase mainly electric vehicles by then, but since most stocks will be electric vehicles, they’ll be forced to purchase those instead. Again, it’s a way to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles in the US, which is one of the highest in the world.
Increased Penalty for Using the Phone While Driving
One of the most broken traffic laws in many states is using one’s phone while driving. Using your phone while driving can lead to many dangerous accidents, and the law knows that. Lawyers who specialize in car accidents claim that a fraction of traffic accidents in the U.S. are caused by distracted driving, next only to drunk driving. This is why Congress is planning to up the ante for distracted driving violations such as this.
Before, fines were the worse thing you could worry about. You have a sense of invulnerability after you’ve been caught the first time because the law stated before that you won’t get the point in your driver’s record when caught using your phone while driving during the first three years you were caught. However, as of July 1, 2021, you can now receive a point during those three years, with subsequent violations stacking on top of another.
Congress cannot stress this enough: using your phone while driving is close to murder, and thousands of Americans die from car accidents every year. They want to reduce that number by being stricter against distracted driving, so safer roads.
Aside from accidents, Congress is also looking more into child neglect. Primarily, families who leave their children in the car for long periods of time.
Heroes Need Not Be Ticketed
Only 19 states in the U.S. have implemented the law where it’s illegal to leave your child alone in the car. Suffice to say, leaving your child alone in your car for more than three hours is child neglect, especially if the child is less than six years old. Congress recognizes this, and it’s planning to promote heroic activities to save children that might be in danger because of this.
As of January 1 this year, Congress has signed a law that gives a person invulnerability from being sued by a car’s owner, given that they break into the car to save a child left there without proper ventilation, care, and nourishment. This means that heroes who do such an act are free to do so if they know the child is in danger.
Don’t bring your child to the mall if you know that they won’t come with you. Leave them in your home instead.
Move Aside!
Lastly, we all know of the law to move to the side if we know a first responder behind us, blazing their sirens and honking their horns. Although this isn’t necessarily enforced, people tend to do it unless you’re out on the county roads or inside the city.
Well, now, the law is being expanded to county and city roads, which means that they will be enforcing this law more than ever. It can result in a point in your driver’s license and a hefty fine. So make sure to move aside when you see first responders on the way, regardless of where you are!
Here are some particularly new laws that will affect the way we commute every day. We must remember these laws so that we don’t get into accidents. Also, don’t leave your child in your car, ever. Be out in your way and stay safe.
