Letter: Las Vegas streets are dangerous

Wednesday, March 22, 2006 | 7:10 a.m.

It is easy to agree with much that was written about in the Sun's March 19 story, "Vegas among the deadliest drives."

It seemed clear to me that Las Vegas was not a typical city for driving, when three weeks after my wife arrived from our former home in Seattle, she was involved in a serious car accident. Later, I took a professional driving job, which has merely confirmed my earlier suspicions about the hazards of navigating the streets and freeways here.

The days that I don't see a major wreck are fewer than the days I do, and that does little to allay my personal concerns about the safety of myself, or anyone else whom I care about. I think the situation is shameful, and to some extent preventable, even with traffic swollen by rapid population increases and inadequate infrastructure.

The broad boulevard-type streets here are deceptively dangerous, largely because the posted speed limits are too high. People will speed anyway, but this activity is encouraged by making streets such as Charleston Boulevard, Sahara Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard 45-mph zones when they should be 35 mph, if for no other reason than to reduce the impact of vehicles crashing into each other.

Pedestrians hardly stand a chance in this town. Motorists, as pointed out in your article, typically have little or no regard for the safety of people crossing the street. I have made myself very unpopular with some motorists by stopping my big truck, turning on my emergency flashers, and waving my free hand to encourage people to stop, so a pedestrian could cross dangerous arterials such as East Charleston or Maryland Parkway.

There is simply inadequate law enforcement protection to safeguard pedestrian rights, and I blame this on an attitude both among the public and the politicians who run the city. The apathy is ridiculous, and the resulting high incidence of pedestrian fatalities is a reflection of this.

Some days, I find myself losing the nerve to chance another day of navigating the city, behind the wheel, as the situation becomes increasing desperate.

Eric Stefik, Las Vegas