Back in 2001, Missouri joined what was then a growing number of states that made it illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or above.
But it may have taken the threatened loss of highway funds for Missouri to finally pass the lower drunken-driving standard and take its place alongside the majority of U.S. states. With the liquor industry on one side and the loss of millions of dollars in transportation funds on the other, Missouri lawmakers dumped the old 0.10 percent blood-alcohol standard.
So the Ride Guy couldn’t help but be overcome by a sense of déjà vu last week after I picked up the National Safety Council’s 2013 edition of Injury Facts. The report compared state laws and determined Missouri is one of only 11 that has not enacted a total text-messaging ban and one of just 17 states where a police officer can’t pull you over just for driving without a seat belt.
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To its credit, Missouri does not allow younger drivers to text while driving. But recent studies show adults are just as likely as — if not more likely than — teens to tap away on their phones while driving.
The Missouri Department of Transportation and others have pushed for a primary seat belt law. Right now, an officer can write a ticket for failure to wear a seat belt only if the driver has already been pulled over for another offense.
Primary seat belt laws do make a difference when it comes to compliance. In states with primary laws, nearly 90 percent of vehicle occupants buckle up, MoDOT officials say. In Missouri, the rate is 76 percent.
But Dave Nichols, MoDOT’s newly appointed director, said Missouri has launched other initiatives through its Blueprint for Highway Safety to win compliance with seat belt laws.
“Obviously … we think it would be very beneficial to have the primary enforcement in place,” Nichols told a small group of reporters in Jefferson City on Friday. “But we respect the General Assembly. Missouri is a state that is a conservative state. And they believe in individual rights and responsibility and accountability. And we’re going to respect that.”
Taking cellphones out of the hands of texting drivers picked up a lot of momentum when the National Transportation Safety Board called on states in late 2011 to enact tougher laws. The request was inspired, in part, by a fatal Aug. 5, 2010, pileup on Interstate 44 near Gray Summit.
Safety Board investigators found that the driver who started the chain-reaction crash had sent or received 11 texts in the 11 minutes before.
Should Missouri tell people they shouldn’t text and drive too?
“Absolutely. And we put that on our message board when you’re driving on Interstate 70. Many states don’t put messages up on their dynamic message boards unless there is an incident,” Nichols said. “We believe that is an opportunity for educating motorists and keeping them alert.”
METRO EYES NEW TRANSIT LINES
Metro and other agencies hope to link dense population areas with job centers by running new transit service along a couple major highway corridors.
“Ultimately, we’re trying to identify transit investments that are going to better connect people with jobs, the places they live and the dominant employment centers where people work,” said Jessica Mefford-Miller, Metro’s chief of planning and system development.
The group is looking at transit options within corridors that generally track with Interstate 70, Highway 40 (Interstate 64), Interstate 44 and Interstate 55. Metro will evaluate the bustling Grand Boulevard corridor later.
“At the end of this study, we’re going to have two transit projects that we’ll advance to federal funding,” Mefford-Miller said. “So we’re going down from four highway corridors to two.”
For more information about the study, go to the website, movingtransitforward.org/stlrapidtransit.
MORE LOCAL FLAVOR AT LAMBERT
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport announced last week that a combined Pasta House and Schlafly Taproom restaurant will soon open in Terminal 2, near Gate E-2.
“It’s a very St. Louis ... concept,” said Rob Salarano, properties division manager at Lambert. “The Schlafly house decor and the Tap Room feel with the beers on tap and the Pasta House menu, including a carry-out portion.”
The new seven-year agreement will provide a minimum of $250,000 in the first year to $375,000 in the last year to the airport. The OHM Concession Group’s Pasta House-Schlafly proposal beat out the only other competing bid, which was put forward by the Dubliner STL, LLC. The Dubliner proposal envisioned an Irish-styled “gastropub,” similar to the downtown restaurant.
It is the latest local concept at Lambert. Others include the Missouri Vineyards on the ticketing level, Schlafly Beer Bar and Grill and Mosaic.
Ken Leiser is the transportation writer at the Post-Dispatch. Read his Along for the Ride column online and every Sunday in the newspaper.
