Bill passed by committee would allow charges in cases such as bus stop crash

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, March 29, 2005 | 11:15 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Legislators passed out tissues this morning as people remembered family members who died after drivers ran stop signs or red lights.

The victims expressed frustration that drivers in Nevada can get away with routine traffic tickets even if they kill someone on the road, as was the case with the Las Vegas Valley bus stop crash earlier this month in which four people were killed.

Dawn Blinder, whose 7-year-old daughter, Debbie, was killed in a prior crash, at the intersection of Hualapai Way and Desert Inn Road, told lawmakers this morning, "If I live to be 100, that is 64 years of suffering, which is far worse than the driver of the Suburban will get."

The 57-year-old woman whose Surburban hit Blinder's car received a minor traffic ticket, but the traffic death will not go on her record.

"A traffic ticket is not nearly enough. Any anyone who thinks it is enough has not walked in my shoes," Blinder said.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee unanimously voted Tuesday to pass Assembly Bill 295, which would automatically revoke a person's drivers license for a year if a driver kills someone while committing a traffic violation such as speeding or running a red light.

The driver could be charged with vehicular manslaughter if he or she is found to have shown "simple negligence" on the road. The charge is punishable by a jail sentence of up to six months and a fine of up to $1,000.

The violation also would be recorded on the driver's record, meaning he or she would face higher insurance.

The bill was endorsed by district attorney and police organizations.

This is marks the fourth time the Legislature has looked at closing the loophole that exists for some motorists who kill people in traffic collisions, in which people who kill someone while committing traffic offenses, Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, the co-sponsor of AB 295, noted.

Leslie said she looked at other states that impose sharper penalties but was worried the measure would die again.

"There seems to be a lot of concern in our state about the accidental nature of the crime," she said.

AB 295 acknowledges that a death occurred while still taking into account the mitigating factor that it was accidental, Leslie said.

The bill seemed right to Ivory Endacott, whose 9-year-old cousin, Alexis Kiles, was killed almost two years ago in Sun Valley by a motorist. Alexis was walking home from a swimming pool with her 8-year-old brother, Destyn.

The woman received a ticket and continues to drive around in the car that she killed Alexis in, Endacott said.

"It felt like no one even acknowledged that the life of a 9-year-old was taken," Endacott said.

Destyn, meanwhile, has to live his life "with the mental anguish of watching his sister die," Endacott said.

"Now he's changed," Endacott said. "I think he has built up a lot of anger, and he's lonely without his sister."

The bill is a balancing act for families, as well, Endacott said.

"She (the driver) didn't kill her on purpose," Endacott said. "That kind of accident could happen to me, and I don't want to be in jail for the rest of my life."

But, Endacott added, she would have expected to be punished.

The hearing room was silent this morning as family members gave tearful remembrances of their loved ones. Kim Gervasoni lost her husband, Mike, on Oct. 21 after a man failed to stop at a red light in Reno.

Mike Gervasoni was a womens basketball coach at UNR. Kim Gervasoni said he was killed instantly when a truck hit him squarely while traveling at between 43 and 47 miles per hour.

"It's only been over five months, but each day feels like an eternity," Gervasoni said. "I struggle every day to deal with this tragedy. Why is my husband dead?"

Witnesses said the driver, who had received a ticket for running a red light previously, did not attempt to brake. There were no skid marks.

"I struggle with the justice system in the state of Nevada," Gervasoni said. "The fact that Nevada is one of the few states that doesn't have more penalties -- just a traffic ticket -- is very disturbing to me and my family. Personally I don't feel safe living here now. A vehicle should be treated as a weapon."