The state gets high praise for its drunken and impaired driving laws, but falls short in the Advocates for Auto and Highway Safety's assessment for its lack of safety requirements covering seat belts, motorcycle helmets and child booster seats.

"You're missing some biggies in Utah," said the group's president, Judie Stone, after releasing state report cards Monday in Washington, D.C.

The states were ranked overall by the colors of a stoplight: green for those making significant progress, yellow for those whose efforts fall well short of the group's goals, red for those the group believes are dangerously behind.

Utah, like every other Intermountain West state besides Wyoming, scored a yellow rating. Wyoming suffered in part because it lacks a law barring open alcohol containers in the passenger area of a vehicle.

Bills to allow law officers to pull over and cite adult motorists solely based on their failure to wear seat belts have struggled to clear the Utah Legislature for years.

Lawmakers have argued that education is better than an encroachment on personal freedoms.

Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, said that isn't going to change this year. He proposed HB87 to allow traffic stops for seat belt violations, but said the bill won't make it out of committee this session. He'll work this summer to convince colleagues that accidents cost taxpayers.

More than eight of every 10 Utahns who get into motor vehicles strap on seat belts, Stone said. The United Kingdom requires seat belts and gets 95 percent compliance, she said.

The sponsor of a bill to require child booster seats in Utah believes his chances are better this year. Rep. Tim Cosgrove, D-Murray, won passage of HB140 from committee on Friday.

It requires boosters for children up to 8, the age when experts say most kids can safely use seat belts.