A number of updates for laws governing Oklahoma drivers went into action on the first day of November, including one called Aaron’s Law. This law deals with increased punishments for individuals found in violation of highway safety rules, set by the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office.
Aaron’s Law is named after Aaron Zents, a teenager who was killed by another driver who ran through a red light in 2009. Because of the tragedy, legislators (with pressure from Aaron’s family and friends, as well as local communities) have increased the punishments for persons convicted of reckless driving and/ or violations of traffic devices or signs. At the time of Aaron’s accident, the driver who ran the red light was charged and convicted of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, fined $800, and placed under house probation for a year. Now, the same kind of accident would most likely warrant a severe felony manslaughter charge, according to reporting by News OK.
This law also cracks down on drivers who fail to properly yield to school buses, suspending the licenses of those found in violation for one year or more. Drivers are required to yield whether they approach a bus from the rear, pass it in the opposite lane of traffic, or navigate an intersection where a bus is stopped. Also , they must remain stopped until the bus’s flashing caution lights are switched off and all children have exited or entered the bus to a safe location. Have you been injured in an Oklahoma motor vehicle accident that you think was the fault of another driver? Contact the Oklahoma traffic accident attorneys with the Maples Law Firm at (405) 705-5050 for a free case review today.
