Editorial: Drivers, not lights, are safety’s best bet

Tuesday, July 15, 2003 | 8:59 a.m.

A series of tragic accidents last fall on Interstate 215 -- the Las Vegas Beltway -- prompted calls for lights that would warn drivers of impending intersections. In updating this story, Sun reporter Launce Rake wrote Monday that all of the intersections will have the lights installed by early next year. This will be a major improvement, one that will undoubtedly prevent many accidents.

Many drivers speed along the beltway as if it were finished, which it won't be for another 10 years. It was opened with many intersections at grade level, meaning there are traffic lights every few miles -- a sight highly uncommon on finished highways. The soft opening was necessary to relieve the bulging traffic on Interstate 15 and U.S. 95. Lower speed limits were posted to compensate for the stop-and-go, city-street style driving.

Predictably, however, motorists exceed the speed limits and the intersections are dangerous. A Las Vegas Sun analysis last fall found that accidents along the beltway resulted in fatalities at three times the national rate. Erin Breen, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Safe Community Partnership, provided Rake with a memorable quote. "You can't engineer for human behavior," she said.

The warning lights will be a good start toward a safer beltway. But what's really needed is for drivers to respect the roadway's limitations and slow down. Speeders should try imagining their own vulnerability when stopped at intersections. They would expect and hope for responsible human behavior -- even though no one had been able to engineer for it. As they hope for responsible behavior from others, they should be willing to practice it themselves.