LV moves up on ‘Mean Streets’ list

Stephen Curran

Thursday, Dec. 2, 2004 | 11:15 a.m.

Streets in the Las Vegas Valley remain among the most dangerous in the nation for pedestrians, a study released today by a national transportation advocacy group has found.

The "Mean Streets" study, released this morning by the Surface Transportation Safety Project, found the Las Vegas area to be the 11th most dangerous urban area of its size in the nation for pedestrians. Researchers used each area's per capita pedestrian deaths from 2002 and 2003 to rank the top 50 most dangerous areas.

That same study also commended the Las Vegas area for showing a 7.8 percent overall decline in pedestrian fatalities in the past 10 years.

But numbers from last year present a significant increase from the most recent study. That study, released in 2002 using numbers from 2000 and 2001, ranked the Las Vegas metropolitan area the 15th least pedestrian-friendly city.

The poor showing is hardly new for Southern Nevada. A Las Vegas Sun series in June found Nevada among the top 10 deadliest for pedestrians, as experts blamed wide streets and laws that routinely put the blame solely on the victims.

When those stories were written, 18 pedestrians had died on Clark County roads. By late last month, that number had nearly doubled in Metro's jurisdiction alone. And this year's 33 dead pedestrians have outpaced the 29 dead by this time last year, Sgt. Frank Weigand of Metro's traffic investigation section said.

If there's been a visible long-term improvement in pedestrian safety, Weigand hasn't seen it. A 24-year Metro veteran, Weigand says drivers now are more aggressive and pedestrians often now have longer walks ahead of them.

"We're not pedestrian friendly here, that's for sure," he said. "The pedestrians have to walk further (to crosswalks) than some cities ... but people being people don't want to take time to do that."

Weigand agreed pedestrian fatalities are a significant problem in the Las Vegas Valley, but placed the blame largely on the pedestrians.

"I would look at it to be 49th or 50th (instead of 11th) because of the number of times it is the pedestrian's fault or pedestrian's error," he said. "When you're walking in the middle of the road and you're trying to walk in front of traffic going 45 mph, don't blame the car."

The judicial system agrees. In Nevada, drivers who strike pedestrians can't be charged with more than a misdemeanor unless that driver is found solely at fault. Leonel Ibarra-Herrera, 25, was sentenced in May to eight to 20 years in prison for causing substantial bodily harm while driving under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.

Ibarra-Herrera was found responsible for the August 2003 death of Delores Arana Lopez, who was legally crossing the street at Decatur Boulevard and Craig Road.

But such convictions are rare, Weigand said.

Elmer Donathan, 66, was a recent Clark County resident to die from injuries suffered while crossing a busy street. Donathan was crossing Desert Inn Road at Topaz Way about 3 p.m. on Nov. 15 when he was struck by a red Chevrolet SUV traveling westbound on the street.

Donathan died Nov. 26.

The accident occurred in broad daylight but Donathan was ruled at fault. The driver of the SUV, who fled the scene of the accident, has not been located. If caught, they will face felony charges for leaving the scene of an accident, Weigand said.

No charges are likely in connection with the collision itself, he said.

Another Las Vegas man, 24-year-old Robert Griffith, remained in critical condition this morning at University Medical Center after he was struck near Nellis Boulevard and Twain Avenue on Nov. 23.

Griffith, like Donathan, was illegally crossing outside the crosswalk in the middle of the afternoon, Weigand said. The driver of the vehicle that struck him was not cited.

In both cases, the responsibility was primarily on the pedestrian, he said.

"The 24-year-old (Griffith) is typical," Weigand said. "He's mid-block and walking against the light. He went right around one car into the path of another. It's 3:45 in the afternoon. Duh, right in the middle of afternoon traffic."

The stories are little surprise for Erin Breen, who runs UNLV's Safe Community Partnership, a safety outreach program at the university.

Breen has routinely blamed the six- to eight-lane streets that favor speed over safety for pedestrians who walk alongside them. On such streets, pedestrians crossing by foot must travel over more than 140 feet of pavement before reaching the other side, Weigand said.

Her group has pressed for increased police patrols near high-pedestrian areas along Maryland Parkway, a request that funding problems have forced onto the back burner.

The shortfalls have prompted Metro to cut back on its successful targeted enforcement program, which the police department credited with an 18 percent decrease at intersections targeted by police, she said.

"That's a project we need to put every effort into getting back," Breen said. "I can point to the reason this (pedestrian deaths) happens but not to many solutions."

Breen's group has partnered with UNLV's Transportation Research Center, the Federal Highway Administration and the Regional Transportation Commission to outline the valley's 11 most dangerous roadways for pedestrians. Of those, the top five were all along the Strip, while the bottom five were near different intersections on Maryland Parkway. The area around the intersection of Desert Inn Road and Boulder Highway rounded out the list.

The findings were part of the larger Las Vegas Area Pedestrian Safety Program, which completed its first phase in 2002. The study will be used to establish new safety standards for local streets and refine those already in place, Ingrid Reisman, a spokeswoman for the RTC, said.

Existing standards require streets have separate pedestrian and automobile facilities, although studies to more carefully integrate crosswalks and pedestrian friendly measures are under way, she said.

The studies are the first step in what Breen said needs to be a drastic improvement in pedestrian safety.

"The sad thing is it's not because no one's trying (to improve pedestrian safety)," she said. "There are so many people trying to make a difference but until there's a concerted effort from the engineering standpoint, they're never going to change the streetscapes. It's not just Las Vegas, it's the entire Southwest."