Pedestrian safety targeted in NLV police checkpoints

Annie Flanzraich

Thursday, July 28, 2005 | 9:33 a.m.

Convincing drivers to give pedestrians the right of way is the goal for North Las Vegas Police when officers are stationed at various locations in city next week.

Officers have taken part in the Pedestrian Safety Grant Project since the end of June. An event on Aug. 2 will be the fourth in which police will set up checkpoints on major streets in an effort to reduce the number of pedestrians hit while crossing streets.

"So far it's been pretty successful," said Sgt. Dan Ewing the Traffic Bureau Supervisor for North Las Vegas Police. "A lot of people (in those areas) don't have cars and they have to walk. We're trying to make it safer." The officers will be stationed at locations on Lake Mead Boulevard, Las Vegas Boulevard North and Civic Center Drive.

Ewing said drivers will be notified of the locations by highway sized signs warning them of the pedestrian enforcement ahead. Officers will place a cone a certain distance from a marked crosswalk, depending on the speed limit of the road. That cone marks the spot from where drivers should recognize a pedestrian and prepare to slow down.

Different locations on those three major roadways were chosen because they are not marked with traffic signals that would allow pedestrians to cross with the light, Ewing said.

At their last pedestrian safety event, officers issued 94 citations. Of those, 47 were for failure to yield right of way to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk. Eight were for seatbelt violations and one concerning child restraint.

Those numbers are similar to the July 12 event when officers issued 93 citations, 58 of which were for failure to yield to pedestrians.

Ewing expects similar results this time. There will be six more events held until the end of September. He said the summer months were chosen because there are more motorists and more pedestrians because of tourism and summer break from school.

"People are on vacation and kids are out of school," Ewing said. "There are more people in the road because of vacation time."

The Pedestrian Safety Grant Project is funded by a $20,000 grant from the Nevada Department of Public Safety, Office of Traffic Safety, Ewing said. The money was issued in April and the grant expires at the end of September. Some of the money went towards training officers to conduct the safety exercises.