Editorial: Lights can save lives — up to a point

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005 | 9:06 a.m.

Public Works officials have received a clear mandate from the Clark County Commission on one way to improve traffic safety. On Tuesday the commissioners told Public Works officials that they want flashing warning lights installed at intersections with four-way stop signs that warrant them -- even if it requires placing these warning signals at all 88 such intersections. Public Works officials told the commissioners the price tag could be as much as $1.5 million.

The demand for better traffic control at intersections heightened in September after a 7-year-old girl, a passenger in a car driven by her mother, was killed when the driver of an SUV failed to stop and struck the car. Prior to the accident at Desert Inn and Hualapai Way, which only had four-way stop signs, residents in the area were so concerned that they had been asking for a stop light. After the crash, Public Works officials attached flashing warning lights to the stop signs at the intersection. The number of drivers running the stop signs dropped from more than 200 in a one-day period to just seven drivers once the warning lights were in place. In the meantime, Public Works has been negotiating with a contractor to install a traffic light at the intersection. Such four-way traffic lights can cost $250,000, a more expensive alternative than solar flash ing-warning lights on stop signs, which can cost as little as $10,000 to equip an entire intersection.

We believe that if traffic studies find that intersections are deserving of traffic lights, the county should do everything it can to install them as quickly as possible. But Las Vegans also should remember that traffic lights aren't going to fully solve the problem. Every day motorists who commute to work see firsthand other drivers run red lights, causing the kind of danger that can kill someone in a split-second. And, very often, deadly crashes occur at intersections with traffic lights. Ultimately, it's up to all Las Vegans to drive sober, slow down and pay better attention when they get behind the wheel of their vehicle. In the end, no amount of traffic lights can overcome irresponsibility.