You've heard the popular added seatbelt save lives.

Kentucky already requires drivers to wear seatbelts, but now we also have to think about smartphone use, driverless cars and other technology.

In Frankfort this week, state lawmakers talked about those new concerns and what can be done to make Kentucky roads safer.

Clayton Dalton continues tonight's legislative update.

Kentucky's rate of fatal crashes is higher than the national average.

That's according to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

But Ryan Fischer, the executive director of Kentucky's Department of Highway Safety, acknowledged the state has made progress in recent years.

Here's a chart that illustrates our fatal crashes over the past four years.

Moving on a downward trend 2023.

We had 814 24.

We had 707.

And in 25, we ended the year with 664 fatal crashes in 2026.

We currently have had 506 fatalities as of October 2nd, and that's a total of 2691.

Over the past four years, which is 202,691 too many.

Many vehicles on the road today have driver assistance technologies.

Some vehicles are fully autonomous.

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says these technologies help save lives and prevent injury.

And one state lawmaker asked if Kentucky is seeing this play out.

Are you finding some of these autonomous vehicles are actually helping bring down some of the traffic accidents?

I know.

You know, we all have now newer cars have the lane assist and the adaptive cruise control that it won't run up on the 18 Wheeler or something like that.

So are you finding some of the technology that's out there is actually helping make our roads a little bit safer?

I think it is.

We're you know, we don't have the statistics on exactly how many of those those vehicles are out there.

But a lot of these fatal crashes.

You know, those those autonomous vehicles are not a big part of those.

There's always, you know, the possibility for a malfunction.

But I think the more safety features as there keeps continuing to get better.

I think that is part of why we're seeing our numbers drop.

Although texting while driving is illegal in Kentucky, the state does not have a hands free law which would ban drivers from using handheld devices behind the wheel.

Retiring state Senator Jimmy Higdon sponsored the Phone Down Kentucky Act this legislative session.

The bill passed out of the Senate but stalled in the House.

It is one that's, there's a lot of resistance to to that.

Nobody likes to be told what to do.

I understand that.

But, you know, Kentucky, every contiguous state has the signs up when you go into those states.

Illinois's.

This is a hands free state.

Ohio's a hands free state.

Indiana hands free state.

Tennessee hands free state.

You know, Missouri, you know, you go on down the list.

All the contiguous states, West Virginia, all of them.

So if you leave Kentucky talking on having your own phone in your hand and cross over the bridge into Indiana, you you could be cited.

So, we're the only holdout in this region, so it does save lives.

I know it's controversial, but it will save lives.

And that's that's what's important.

For Kentucky.

Edition.

I'm Clayton Dalton.