Wednesday, March 16, 2005 | 10:56 a.m.
With the number of pedestrian traffic fatalities increasing in Clark County, officials in Las Vegas and lawmakers are again considering proposing legislation that would make it a crime to accidentally kill someone during a traffic accident.
Meanwhile, one of the keys to reducing the numbers of pedestrians killed by traffic, the designs of streets and incorporation of pedestrian safety systems into those designs, was discussed on Tuesday by Nevada Department of Transportation officials.
NDOT conducted a public hearing on its "Pedestrian Plan and Design Guidance," a report to be released over the summer which will detail regulations and codes used by planners to construct better pedestrian sidewalks and crosswalks.
Richard Romer of Orth Rogers Associates Inc., the group consulting with the transportation department on the report, described the report as the "toolbox" designers use to create safer roads.
The initial report provides recommended design features for pedestrian walkways that are currently in use in Nevada. One example that was heralded was the "Danish Offset," an innovative crosswalk located at Maryland Parkway near UNLV. The Danish Offset is an angular sidewalk that provides pedestrians and drivers with a more complete view of one another.
Fifty-two pedestrians were killed by motorists in Clark County in 2004, a 10 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Nevada State Department of Transportation.
There were 950 traffic accidents involving pedestrians in 2002 in all of Nevada, and NDOT does not have more recent information.
One way to reduce the high number of pedestrian fatalities is to give law enforcement officials more tools to crack down on drivers involved in such accidents, according to Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno.
Leslie currently has a bill in draft form that directly addresses the consequences of accidental deaths of pedestrians through traffic accidents.
The bill would allow the authorities to charge motorists who accidentally killed pedestrians with "misdemeanor manslaughter," a charge that would carry no jail time but the offense would go on the offender's driving record and would likely affect insurance rates.
"We need to get the public's attention and show that the consequence of bad driving could be a death," Leslie said. "We want to show the victim's family that the criminal justice system in involved."
Under Nevada law, a driver who accidentally kills a pedestrian with a vehicle cannot be charged with any crime higher than a misdemeanor unless he or she is found to be solely at fault.
In one high-profile case, 14-year-old Manuel Cazares was killed when 24-year-old Erin Young hit him as he was riding his bicycle through an intersection at Tropicana Avenue near Sacks Drive.
At the time, she told authorities that she was reaching for a ringing cell phone when she approached the intersection.
Although the police initially did not charge her with a crime, public outcry grew until Clark County District Attorney David Roger charged her with traffic-related infractions. She eventually pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to reduce her speed for the conditions.
Even though Leslie's "misdemeanor manslaughter" bill would not change the penalty of an accidental pedestrian killing, it would send a message that the authorities take accidental deaths seriously, she said.
"Even if it is an accident, somebody is still dead," she said.
Other states have similar vehicular manslaughter charges. In California, for example, accidentally killing an individual with an automobile is a felony.
Leslie has gained support for her draft bill from law enforcement officials, including Metro Police officials.
Detective Bill Redfairn agreed that police need more authority to charge drivers involved in fatal pedestrian accidents with crimes.
"We are asking the lawmakers to give us the tools to stop the carnage and to give closure to the victim's families," Redfairn said, adding that he wasn't very familiar with Leslie's bill. "We do need penalties, but we need flexibility in those laws so we don't arrest everyone in accidents."
He said that he recalled only one instance in which a driver was charged with manslaughter after killing a pedestrian, and that driver was allegedly driving under the influence.
Erin Breen, director of UNLV's Safe Community Partnership and an advocate for traffic safety, also agreed that the legislation sought by Leslie could help in decreasing the number of traffic fatalities involving pedestrians.
"If you don't yield in a crosswalk and kill someone, then you get a ticket for failure to yield," Breen said. "People shouldn't be locked up for taking their eyes off the road, but this legislation gives us something to get people's attentions."
She added, however, that there are many more issues besides charging individuals with misdemeanors involved in traffic fatalities.
In Las Vegas, for example, the length of sidewalk pedestrians must travel before they reach a crosswalk is often too far, inspiring many individuals to cross the street at non-crosswalk locations -- a dangerous prospect that has led to more than one fatality.
Pedestrians have also told her that they avoid crosswalks because they become "targets" when they are in crosswalks, she said. People at least have full visibility of oncoming cars when they cross a street outside of the crosswalk, she said.
Ultimately, what is needed is better street design that accounts for pedestrians with the equal attention city planners provide drivers, she said.
That was one of the aims of NDOT's public hearing Tuesday, officials said.
There may always be accidents that could not have been prevented, but better planned streets and stronger laws should help reduce the rate of pedestrian deaths, Breen said.
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