Streets of danger: Program targets Las Vegas’ high rate of pedestrian accidents

Friday, Aug. 16, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

Erin Breen of Las Vegas stood with a uniformed Metro Police officer in a crosswalk as traffic whizzed by on Maryland Parkway, never slowing.

"I mean the officer wore the gun, the badge, the whole nine yards and nobody stopped," said Breen, director of the Safe Community Partnership.

Breen described her experience as "horrifying."

Pedestrians trying to cross six lanes of traffic in a crosswalk in front of the Boulevard mall Thursday afternoon didn't make it across any easier.

Clark County tops the list for pedestrian injuries and deaths, ranking No. 1 in the nation for pedestrian accidents in the last national survey available, done in 1999. That year Nevada reported 71 fatalities; Clark County had 51 pedestrian deaths.

This year 28 Las Vegas residents have been killed trying to cross local streets, compared to 20 at this time last year.

"We are on a record pace," Breen said.

Last year a third of the pedestrian deaths were caused by driver error, nearly one-third were killed by hit-and-run drivers and five people were killed on the sidewalk.

Metro Police staged a crackdown this week, as traffic officers patrolled the most dangerous intersections and issued about 150 tickets a day Tuesday through Thursday, Officer Greg Rundell said.

Enforcing the rights of pedestrians started earlier this year with plainclothes officers in carefully marked crosswalks with a team of motor officers standing by to ticket drivers who do not yield the right of way to a walker. The ticket costs a motorist $95, but officers can add on charges for failing to wear a seat belt, failing to restrain a child, or failing to have the registration or proof of insurance with them.

Metro Police and the Safe Community Partnership based at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Transportation Research Center have teamed up to reduce walker death, Breen said.

Five of the top 10 worst intersections are on Maryland Parkway between Desert Inn Road and Tropicana Avenue. The worst intersection for pedestrians in Las Vegas is Koval Lane and Flamingo Road.

And the best designed crosswalk is in front of the university on Maryland Parkway. It was designed after a blind student was killed trying to cross the street in the early 1990s.

The ideal solution would be to get drivers out of their cars and walking, said Maggie Saunders, pedestrian and bicycle safety program coordinator at the research center.

"You have a greater respect for walkers that way," Saunders said.

A three-year $1.5 million grant from the Federal Highway Administration is helping to put pedestrians in the limelight, rather than in the headlights, Breen said.

Radio and television ads and a poster featuring Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman in a crosswalk overlaid with a bull's-eye and the words "Pedestrians are not target practice" are part of the program to educate the public.

"We figure if we can get drivers to listen to a message not to hit pedestrians while they are driving, maybe they will slow down and let people cross the street," Breen said.

The grant money may also help install pavement lighting at crosswalks using airport landing lights and countdown clocks to help pedestrians make safer crossings.

Many pedestrians who survive a dash across a major Las Vegas street say they jaywalk because it is safer than trying to scoot in a crosswalk where drivers turning right often fail to stop for them, Breen said.

"If there is no reward for using a crosswalk, why use it?" she asked.