Louisiana Property and Casualty Insurance Commission held a meeting earlier this year where attorney Mike Barron from the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission presented some legislative recommendations on behalf of the LHSC aimed at improving safety on Louisiana's roads.

In an attempt to find new ways to reduce auto accidents across the state, the commission has drafted five proposed bills for the 2008 Louisiana Legislative Session, which is scheduled to start at the end of this month. These bills would:

?Prohibit drivers under 18 from driving while using a cell phone, handheld or not; text messaging devices; or any other wireless communication device.

?Ban radar detectors and "jammers" from vehicles as a way to thwart police from writing speeding tickets.

?Ban those under 21 from bars and microbreweries, but would allow a person under 21 to enter a restaurant with a bar.

?Expand the state's seat belt law to require that all vehicle occupants be buckled up.

?Increase the fines for not wearing a seat belt in a moving vehicle.

The American Insurance Association recently voiced their support the bill package that was introduced by saying, "While several of the elements in these bills have been considered in the past, the measures remain important, and stand to make our roads much safer," said John Marlow, assistant vice president, AIA Southwest Region in a release. "There are many distractions on the roads, especially for young people, and these bills are a strong step toward helping them become safer drivers."

Interested in more auto-claim news and in-depth articles? Head over to Claims' auto-claim channel for more information.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.