Survey says LV a hot spot for aggressive drivers

Jen Lawson

Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas' largest number of aggressive drivers can be found along U.S. 95 from the Spaghetti Bowl to the Rainbow curve, according to a motorist survey released this morning.

The second most frequent location of aggressive driving is on I-15 between I-215 and the Spaghetti Bowl, the AAA Nevada study also noted.

AAA Nevada sent surveys to 1,200 Southern Nevadans in October to ask how they felt about aggressive driving. Forty-one percent, or 479 people, responded.

"AAA Nevada members are telling us they want help in dealing with aggressive drivers," AAA Nevada spokeswoman Lisa Foster said. "In our survey, four out of five (respondents) told us aggressive driving is a moderate to large problem."

Weaving in and out of traffic lanes, tailgating and cutting off other drivers are the most common forms of aggressive driving, Foster said.

Nationwide, at least 218 traffic deaths and 12,600 traffic injuries between 1990 and 1996 occurred in aggressive-driving incidents, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

With a population that is the fastest growing of any state and a financially strapped roadway construction program struggling to keep up, the Silver State is a potential breeding ground of aggressive driving, experts said.

Gary Booker, a Clark County deputy district attorney who heads up the vehicular crimes unit, said aggressive driving involves speeding and one or more of the following: failing to obey a traffic control device, driving on the shoulder, weaving, tailgating and failing to yield.

Aggressive driving is a misdemeanor carrying a penalty of mandatory traffic school and driver's license suspension for a maximum of 30 days.

Booker estimated that last year he successfully prosecuted about 20 people for traffic violations that were directly tied to aggressive driving.

Deputy district attorney Bruce Nelson, a member of the vehicular crime unit, said his office takes the issue "very seriously."

"We all share the road," he said.

The DA's vehicular crime unit was formed in 1996 in response to the increase in wrecks and bad driving.

"We're different from everyone else in this office -- people will always murder people, people will always rape people," Booker said. "Most of our crimes are preventable. Because of public education, we can get people to improve their behavior."

Too often, experts said, aggessive driving by one motorist incites a negative reaction from another driver and that just compounds the problem. Seventy-one percent of the respondents to the AAA Nevada survey said a hand wave is the most appropriate apology for bad driving, and half said that mouthing words of apology is appropriate.

Booker's unit will be introducing legislation that seeks to increase the maximum penalties for felony reckless driving, defined as driving that causes substantial bodily harm or death. Currently the penalty is up to six years in jail, but Booker would like that raised to up to 15 years.

In 1995 his office successfully increased the penalty for leaving the scene of a crash from a maximum of six years in jail to 15 years, he said.

Trooper James Olschlager, spokesman for the Nevada Highway Patrol, said he pulls over at least one aggressive driver a day while driving to and from work.

NHP has a program called ADAPT -- Aggressive Driving Apprehension and Prevention Team -- in which troopers in unmarked cars hit the roads about twice a week looking for aggressive drivers. When they spot one, they alert marked vehicles, who pull the motorists over.

"We've seen a little bit of change" in driving conditions on the major roadways, he said, but aggressive driving remains a consistent problem.

AAA Nevada offers the following tips to avoid conflict with aggressive drivers:

Don't engage an angry driver. Stay calm, swallow your pride and make every effort to get out of his or her way.

Avoid eye contact. Many times, this is what an angry driver wants. Glancing, looking or staring at an angry driver can turn an impersonal traffic encounter into a duel.

If you think the aggressive driver is harassing you and trying to start a fight, get help. If you have a cell phone, call 9-1-1.