The Massachusetts legislature is wrestling with two public safety issues relevant to municipalities across the Commonwealth: driving legislation that would address testing of elderly drivers and cell phone use and legislation to prevent bullying.

Several months ago the issue of testing elderly drivers was front and center in the news as a result of a spate of accidents involving senior drivers some fatal.

In a poll here the majority of respondents voted in favor of testing. (You can find the poll at the end of this post.)

The Massachusetts legislature seems gridlocked according to story that appeared last week in The Boston Globe:

from The Boston Globe

Despite promises of swift action from lawmakers in the new year, two high-profile driver safety bills are languishing on Beacon Hill, their fate very much in doubt.

The Legislature showed heavy interest last year in passing major legislation on testing elderly drivers and banning text messaging behind the wheel, only to back off amid deep divisions over the two measures. (Read the full story here.)

With the recent tragic suicide of a South Hadley teenager, the legislature is looking at moving to pass a law to prevent bullying. Like elderly driving, this legislation has been percolating since late last year but has renewed urgency.

from the Boston Globe

Lawmakers are stepping up efforts to pass a bullying-prevention measure targeting the type of taunting that authorities say a South Hadley teenager endured before allegedly taking her own life.

The bill, which is still being drafted, combines aspects of about a dozen bills that were the subject of a hearing before the Joint Committee on Education in November. The resulting measure is expected to be released to the House and Senate sometime next month, Representative Martha M. Walz, a Boston Democrat and the committee’s cochairwoman, said yesterday. (Read the full story here.)
Bullying legislation gains new urgency
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