Less federal highway money will be available for Utah roads because the state doesn't have mandatory seat-belt and motorcycle helmet laws.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will redistribute highway funds totaling $1.13 million now and some $2.2 million in October because the state doesn't require motorcyclists to wear helmets.According to the federal mandate, the state's secondary seat-belt law also isn't up to snuff. The law only allows citations for not wearing seat belts when drivers are stopped for other traffic violations.
Some 25 states don't have the mandated helmet and seat-belt laws, including neighboring Arizona and Colorado. If states don't have a law they will lose 1.5 percent of federal highway money now and 3 percent in October.
Kim Morris, Utah Department of Transportation spokesman, said the $1.13 million amounts to about 1 mile of new urban roadway or about 3 miles of rural road.
Instead of being used for highways, the money will be given to Utah's Highway Safety Office, which will use it for programs to prevent drunken driving and encourage seat-belt use, according to K. Craig Allred, office director.
Allred isn't particularly pleased that the money is coming to his office, noting that the money is needed to build roads. He said it does raise an issue of states' rights that has been surfacing in the growing dissatisfaction with federal mandates.
"If we have a motorcycle helmet law we should have it because it makes sense, not because the federal government tells us we have to," Allred said.
Morris agrees: "It is in the best interest of the public to allow the wise use of highway dollars and not divert this money when highway needs are so great."