Report finds Vegas no walk in park

Launce Rake and Jen Lawson

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2002 | 10:52 a.m.

Las Vegas continues to be one of the most dangerous cities in the country for pedestrians, according to a study released today by a national public interest group.

Las Vegas was the 15th worst city in the nation for pedestrian fatalities last year, according to the Surface Transportation Policy Project's study of pedestrian safety among 49 of the nation's major metropolitan.

This year the numbers may be worse: Metro Police report there have been almost twice as many pedestrians killed by vehicles so far, compared with the same time last year.

There were 41 pedestrian fatalities this year in Metro's jurisdiction through Nov. 14. Last year there were 26 for the whole year. In the state, there were 52 through Nov. 4, up from 37 for the same time period last year.

Crossing Maryland Parkway Wednesday in front of the Boulevard mall, Frank Lockwood of Las Vegas said he wasn't surprised.

"You've got so many tourists here that jaywalk ... and you see crazy drivers too," said the 67-year-old Lockwood, whose daughter has been in the hospital since she was hit by a car while walking along Las Vegas Boulevard North near Craig Road the day before Halloween.

A pedestrian was hit in a two-car collision on Maryland Parkway at Katie Avenue, at the southwest corner of the mall, Sunday night.

Walking along Maryland Parkway on Wednesday, Branko Djakoric, 40, of London, said Las Vegas is more pedestrian friendly than many cities he's visited, such as Los Angeles, Atlanta and Houston.

"And it's always sunny here so you can always see the cars coming from far away," he said.

The Washington-based group that wrote the study uses a "pedestrian danger index" -- a formula that includes the urban population, the number of pedestrian fatalities and the percentage of people who walk to work -- to rank the cities.

The Las Vegas result, based on 2000 and 2001 data, was a notch worse than the last time the group did a national study on pedestrian fatalities. In 2000 the group put the city 16th out of 47 cities, based on 1997 and 1998 data.

In terms of the pedestrian danger index, Las Vegas has improved. In 2000 the group put the index at 43.82. In 2002 that index improved to 32.5.

"If there were a real commitment to walking as a way to get around, there is much that could be done," said Barbara McCann, the report's co-author. The focus needs to be on walking and pedestrian safety in street design and enforcing traffic laws, McCann added.

She said Las Vegas ranks 45 out of 49 for the amount of federal money spent on local pedestrian and bicycle safety, with just 14 cents spent per person on the programs.

"That's really bad," McCann said.

The message is not lost on state and local traffic specialists.

"Conditions are bad, which is why we are making such strong efforts to improve them," said Bruce Mackey, bicycle/pedestrian safety educator for the state Office of Traffic Safety.

Part of the problem can be blamed on growth, Metro Sgt. Steve Tuggle said.

"We have too many cars and not enough asphalt," he said. "We have too many pedestrians and not enough crosswalks."

Mackey disputes the group's ranking of Las Vegas as a place where not enough money is going to pedestrian safety.

"I think those figures are quite old," he said. "Lately, we are regarded as one of the major metropolitan areas doing the most to improve our pedestrian and bike safety."

The effort includes a round of public service announcements on local television and a major study at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on pedestrian safety, he said.

Local police also are conducting traffic stings targeting drivers who do not observe pedestrian crosswalks and other safety laws.

But getting the improvements can be a very hard road, Office of Traffic Safety representative John Johansen said.

"What we're trying to do in the Office of Traffic Safety is change behaviors," Johansen said. "As far as we're concerned, there are no accidents. Somebody is at fault for these deaths."

Drivers who contribute to pedestrian fatalities can be speeding or impaired.

Las Vegas resident Charles Doolin, 57, said he thinks most accidents are the fault of drivers who don't look hard enough for pedestrians.

"The way people drive here, they don't slow down," he said. "People are just in a big hurry these days."

Tuggle said pedestrians themselves are at fault more often than people realize.

"Pedestrians think they have carte blanche to walk in the street," Tuggle said. "Roads are made for cars, and sidewalks are made for people. There's an inherent risk when you step off the sidewalk because you're not where you're supposed to be."

The majority of pedestrians who are hit by cars are Las Vegas residents who are jaywalking, he said. From time to time a car will jump the curb and hit someone walking down a sidewalk or walking on a crosswalk, but it's rare.

"I don't have sympathy for pedestrians who get whacked by cars," Tuggle said. "They're dying on our roadways, and they're primarily locals. They're not tourists on the Strip."

Tuggle said in the effort to curb pedestrian fatality educating the public is important, and an aggressive citation program would probably help.

But Metro doesn't have enough cops to write tickets for every person who jaywalks, Tuggle said.

"We've never had an appetite to do that," he said.