Friday, March 19, 1999 | 11:25 a.m.
Legislation aimed at curbing aggressive driving is being called a good idea by safety experts, but Assembly Bill 457 might not be road worthy just yet.
"It is running parallel to our reckless driving law, and a reckless driving conviction carries a stiffer penalty," said Col. Michael Hood, chief of the Nevada Highway Patrol. Still, he said, "The law is a good idea and we support any law that helps with traffic safety."
Hood is concerned that motorists could be inaccurately charged with road rage, a misdemeanor that would carry a maximum $1,000 fine, when they should be charged with the more serious reckless driving, a felony that carries up to a $5,000 fine, one to six years in prison or both.
Reckless driving is defined under Nevada statutes as "willful or wanton disregard for safety causing death or substantial bodily harm."
Road rage is defined in the bill as speeding combined with two of the following seven offenses: Failure to obey traffic signals, overtaking a vehicle by passing on the right off the paved portion of the road, improper lane switching, following another vehicle too closely, failure to yield a right of way, following too closely to a fire engine answering a fire alarm or driving between vehicles in a funeral or other authorized procession.
Road rage does not have to result in an accident for the charge to be levied. But it could give prosecutors and defense attorneys in borderline reckless driving cases a lesser charge for which to plea bargain.
Unlike with reckless driving, a first conviction for road rage could result in a 30-day suspension of a driver's license. Hood says he believes a first offense should bring a mandatory license suspension to give it more teeth.
A first offense for road rage also would require the motorist to go to traffic safety school and pay for it out of his own pocket. A second road rage conviction during a two-year period would result in a mandatory one-year license revocation, the bill says.
The bill, which was introduced last week and awaits a date before the Assembly Transportation Committee, will have a fiscal impact on local government, but the Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Council Bureau has not yet figured out what that potential cost could be.
Because there is the potential for jail time, the anti-road rage measure could wind up costing cities and counties more to house additional inmates. However, because the legislation allows for the levying of fines, the bill also could wind up paying for itself, said Assemblyman David Parks, the bill's sponsor.
Parks, D-Las Vegas, got 22 other members of the Assembly to co-sponsor his measure, which he says could make a dent in what has become an ever-growing problem on roads and highways nationwide.
"I'm confident it will pass because I don't see it as being controversial," Parks said. "I asked police agencies to look at a draft of the bill and the response was very positive. There was no opposition to it."
The bill comes in the wake of a Jan. 28 accident on Interstate 15 south of Las Vegas in which a motorcyclist was killed after a Lexus cut in front of a semi-tractor-trailer in an incident described as road-rage related.
It also comes on the heels of a report last week by the Surface Transportation Policy Project that found that Las Vegas is among the 10 worst metropolitan areas in traffic deaths caused by road rage.
The group that advocates more widespread use of public transportation used 1996 data to determine that the Las Vegas area was the sixth worst for road rage incidents that led to fatalities.
Las Vegas had 8.1 such traffic deaths per 100,000 people, the study said. Still, Las Vegas was far behind the nation's leader, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., with a rate of 13.4 per 100,000.
The study identified road-rage deaths as those caused by aggressive driving, not homicide by angry motorists.
"Aggressive driving is a bigger problem than many people think," Hood said. "It is on the upswing in our urban areas of Las Vegas and Reno."
The bill will help urge motorists to practice safe, friendly driving, said Erin Breen, director of Safe Community Partnership for the UNLV Transportation Research Center. The problem may be with enforcing it, she said.
"Are there ever enough officers to enforce a law?" she said. However, she added, the law could "serve as an education tool to help people decide not to drive aggressively."
Hood said he does not see enforcement of a road rage law as being a problem. The law, he said, would give troopers another tool to keep the highways safe.
Figures compiled by Breen's organization note that 60 percent of all local traffic accidents can be attributed to factors caused by aggressive driving, such as speeding and failing to yield or darting in and out of traffic. The number of those directly attributable to road rage cannot be tracked, she said.
Breen said there are several steps people can take to prevent becoming a victim of road rage or deal with it when confronted by aggressive drivers.
"The first thing I would recommend is to give yourself enough time to get to your location without having to rush," she said.
"Also, before you get angry and yell at someone who cut you off, ask yourself 'have I ever done this before?' Most of us have unintentionally done it. So don't get angry when it happens to you. Stay calm."
She recommended that motorists avoid making eye contact with irate drivers and avoid tailgating by driving at least two seconds behind another vehicle. Motorists should wear seat belts to help prevent injuries in case of an accident, Breen said.
Also, if you get into an accident and know you caused it, she said you can show the other driver you are sorry without admitting fault.
"Letting the other driver see you bring your palm to your forehead in a gesture that you've done something stupid has been proven to do wonders," she said.
"We also have to get out of the habit of calling them accidents, because that word indicates we don't have control, when we do. We should call them what they are -- crashes."
