Editorial: Pedestrians need more protection

Thursday, March 31, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.

Las Vegas Metro Police officials say that a woman whose sport utility vehicle crashed into a bus stop on March 14, killing four people, won't face felony charges. It appears the most that Veronica Schmidt could be charged with is two minor violations -- a speeding ticket and failure to maintain her travel lane. Police aren't sure what caused Schmidt's vehicle to kill 14-year-old Angelica Jimenez, her 16-year-old sister Raquel Jimenez, 16-year-old Reggie Williams and Samantha Allen, who was 36. Investigators looked at the possibility that she might have passed out when driving, that a medical condition caused her to lose control, or that she was blown off course by a gust of wind.

Family members of the victims were upset to learn that Schmidt will escape felony charges, but Detective Bill Redfairn, the lead investigator in the crash, said there was nothing more that Metro Police could have done. Prosecutors, in order to obtain a felony conviction under Nevada's existing manslaughter law, must prove that a driver was reckless and willfully disregarded public safety -- a burden of proof difficult to meet. Redfairn added, however, that Las Vegans should contact their legislators to get them to change vehicular traffic laws so that they have some teeth. Some help, in fact, might be on the way.

The Assembly Judiciary Committee has recommended approval of legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, that would create a crime of vehicular manslaughter in which only simple negligence would have to be demonstrated. So instead of a driver receiving a traffic ticket for accidentally killing someone, such as through his inattentiveness, he could be convicted of vehicular manslaughter and receive up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. It's a good bill, but we would like to see it made even tougher, so that prosecutors could seek more jail time and higher fines.

The Las Vegas Sun, through news stories and editorials over the last year, has highlighted the lack of punishment options for motorists who kill others, especially when such wrecks involve pedestrians and bicyclists. The statistics overwhelmingly demonstrate why a change in traffic laws is needed. In June the Sun reported that in the previous 18-month period, 81 pedestrians and bicyclists were killed by motorists in Clark County. From 1994 to 2002, Nevada's per-capita pedestrian death rate has been among the 10 highest in the United States. That is plenty of evidence of a driving culture that doesn't respect pedestrians, bicyclists and other motorists.

Furthermore, the Legislature should consider the personal devastation that such deaths have brought to the victims' families and friends. For example, there was the tragedy involving two 13-year-old girls, Adriana Lauzon and her friend Tabatha Speas, who in October 2003 were hit by a car as they were crossing a street at an intersection. Both girls subsequently died from the injuries they suffered. The driver's punishment, if you can call it that, was two misdemeanor tickets: one for failure to yield and another for driving with an expired license.

Anguish over such senseless deaths isn't limited to Las Vegas -- it can be found throughout Nevada. The pain is evident in Ivory Endacott, whose 9-year-old cousin, Alexis Kiles, was killed nearly two years ago by a motorist in Sun Valley as she was walking home from a swimming pool. Endacott testified Tuesday before the Assembly Judiciary Committee that the woman who hit her cousin only received a ticket -- and still drives around in the car that killed Alexis. "It felt like no one even acknowledged that the life of a 9-year-old was taken," Endacott said.

Legislators might not feel comfortable strengthening traffic laws -- attempts have failed in previous years -- but we can't keep going on like this. Maybe this latest tragedy that has taken the lives of four Nevadans finally will be the catalyst, especially with the Legislature in session, that will result in our state no longer tolerating reckless or inattentive driving that has deadly consequences. There is something wrong with a state that not only says it's OK to be a bad driver, but also says that you can get away with killing someone with nothing more than a traffic citation. Tougher laws, and aggressive enforcement of them, is what's needed to change the way people drive in this state.