Crash could hurt LV’s image of safety

Emily Richmond and Steve Kanigher

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 11:12 a.m.

The crash that left at least one pedestrian dead and at least three others critically injured Wednesday is "the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's worst nightmare," said Erin Breen of the Safe Community Partnership at UNLV.

"You don't want newspapers across the country to be carrying the headline that pedestrians were mowed down on the Strip in Las Vegas," Breen said. "That's why we've been seeing some progress in safety improvements. It's the recognition that it's the tourists walking around that make this town go."

The safety of tourists who visit Las Vegas has been the subject of considerable discussion among officials with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Clark County and law enforcement agencies, Terry Jicinsky, senior vice president of marketing for the LVCVA said.

"The safety of our visitors has been a big issue," Jicinsky said. "We certainly have had many discussions with local leadership, the county and Metro Police that deal with the safety of our visitors."

But he said Wednesday that pedestrian safety along the Las Vegas Strip is an issue best addressed by the county, which has jurisdiction over the portion of the Strip where the car hit pedestrians Wednesday.

"It's a tragedy," Jicinsky said. "Our hearts go out to the families of the victims, but the overall safety record for tourists in Las Vegas has been a good one. Las Vegas is perceived as an extremely safe destination."

The typical pedestrian collision involves people trying to cross a street. In this case a driver plowed into a group of pedestrians on the sidewalk between Bally's and Paris Las Vegas.

Solutions such as cement barriers along sidewalks, islands that allow pedestrians to cross wide roads in two stages and limiting motorist U-turns have been discussed, Breen said. Pedestrian bridges, like the one located at the intersection where Wednesday's wreck occurred, can also help, Breen said.

"Some of the people who were hit were probably heading for the bridge, doing exactly what we wanted them to do," Breen said. "They were probably following all of the rules, minding their business. It's tragic."

Not even cement barriers, bridges or the best of intersection layouts can guarantee pedestrian safety, Breen said.

"Any time you have a drunk driver all bets are off," Breen said. "There's no engineering cure for that."

The intersection of the Strip and Flamingo Road, one of the valley's most dangerous intersections, has seen improvements such as the pedestrian bridge.

The Las Vegas Valley is a dangerous area for pedestrians as these statistics suggest:

In 2004 Clark County recorded 52 pedestrians killed by motorists, an increase of 10 percent over the prior year.

For a decade Nevada's pedestrian death rate per capita has been among the 10 highest in the nation, with the bulk of the deaths occurring in Clark County.

In December the Las Vegas area was ranked the nation's 11th most dangerous urban community of its size for pedestrians by a transportation advocacy group.

And the Strip has inherent dangers. There are an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 visitors in the Las Vegas Valley on an average weekend day. The city's wide streets and long distances between crosswalks makes taking shortcuts tempting.

Earlier this year the UNLV Transportation Research Center ranked the county's most dangerous intersections. Of the top 10 cited, five were along Maryland Parkway and five were along the Strip.

In May Gov. Kenny Guinn signed AB295 into law, creating the misdemeanor crime of vehicular manslaughter. Drivers who cause the death of another person while exhibiting "simple negligence," such as talking on a cellular phone, face up to six months behind bars.