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Utah again received middling grades for traffic-safety laws that contain some "lethal loopholes," according to a report card released Thursday by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.

That alliance of insurance companies and consumer, health and safety groups says the loopholes include too-loose laws on seat belts, helmets for motorcyclists, and graduated driver licenses for teens.

Utah has enacted eight of what the group considers 15 key safety laws, tying for No. 21 among the 50 states, putting it in the middle of the pack. The group said Utah's score shows it "is advancing but has numerous gaps in highway safety laws."

No state has passed all 15 laws sought by the group. The most passed by any state is 12, in Delaware, Illinois, New York and Oregon. South Dakota passed the fewest, only two.

The group says that while Utah law requires use of seat belts, drivers must commit a separate offense before an officer can pull over a car and issue a citation. It seeks a "primary" law to allow police to ticket directly for seatbelt violations.

Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, has drafted HB79 to enact such a law. Perry is a Utah Highway Patrol lieutenant who says he is pushing the bill because he has seen too many deaths from people not wearing seat belts. Arguments against the bill usually contend that it restricts people's rights too much.

"If loopholes like these were closed, and if all passenger vehicle occupants age 5 and over had worn seat belts, in 2012 alone more than 3,000 lives could have been saved," Jaqueline Gillan, president of the alliance, wrote in the new report.

The group also wants Utah to require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Such bills have often been attempted at the Legislature, but were defeated — again with the argument that it interferes with personal freedom.

"There were 11 times as many unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities in states without all-rider helmet laws as in states with all-rider helmet laws in 2013," Gillan wrote.

The group also seeks several changes in graduated driver licenses for teens, including a strong nighttime driving restriction; limiting how many teen passengers are allowed without adult supervision; requiring teens to reach age 16 before obtaining a learner's permit; and requiring reaching age 18 for an unrestricted license.

The group estimated that motor-vehicle crashes create an economic loss of $1.98 billion a year in Utah.

The group did praise Utah for having such laws as requiring booster seats for children; banning texting and any manual manipulation of cell phones while driving; outlawing open containers of alcohol in cars; and requiring ignition interlocks for drunken-driving offenders.