Editorial: Speeders put lives at risk

Friday, June 17, 2005 | 8:45 a.m.

Over the past several years this newspaper has reported about the high risk that pedestrians in the Las Vegas Valley face from reckless or inattentive drivers. For a decade now Nevada's per capita pedestrian death rate has been among the 10 highest in the United States. But it's not only pedestrians who are at risk from bad drivers. The bad drivers are themselves at risk, along with their passengers and other drivers who happen to be near them when they lose control.

This is the conclusion of a new federal study, which examined speeding-related statistics in the 50 states. The study, which covered the years 1983 to 2002, concluded that Nevada is the 10th-worst state in regard to the number of motorists dying in speeding-related accidents. In 2002, for example, 381 people in Nevada were killed in traffic accidents, and 148 of those people, or 39 percent, died as the result of a speeding driver.

The study, conducted by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, a division of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, did not surprise Angie Chavera, a spokeswoman for the Nevada Highway Patrol. Drivers on Southern Nevada's highways are routinely spotted going 100 mph or higher, she told the Sun. A Metro Police traffic officer, Sgt. Tracy McDonald, said 90 percent of the public drives reasonably, but the other 10 percent have an "attitude." "It's those 10 percent who are reckless and arrogant and not exercising due care" who cause the problems, McDonald said.

Those dangerous drivers are one reason why we supported a quarter-percent increase in the Clark County sales tax to put nearly 1,700 more police officers on patrol in the valley. The 2005 Legislature passed Assembly Bill 418, which authorizes the County Commission to impose the increase. Gov. Kenny Guinn signed the bill on June 3. Following public hearings, the commission is tentatively scheduled to vote on the tax increase in August. We believe the vote should be unanimous in favor of more police officers, many of whom will be assigned to traffic duties. Maybe then that 10 percent of bad drivers will start getting pulled over more often, and we can all be a little more safe out on the roads.