No consequences for risky driving

Fredrick Wilkening, Las Vegas

Friday, Aug. 30, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.

I was driving down the street the other day and I noticed the car in the next lane just ahead of me seem to be having trouble staying in its lane.

As my wife and I got closer, we saw a young lady texting while driving (my wife’s pet peeve). My wife rolled down the window and yelled something about getting off the (blank) phone, and the young lady gave my wife the middle-finger salute.

It was that motion that reminded me why Nevada’s laws are so screwed up: There are no consequences for our actions.

In the 2011 session, Nevada Sen. Shirley Breeden managed to pass a bill making driving and talking or texting a crime punishable with a $50 fine (not worth a police officer’s time). That bill took the place of the “Dangerous Driving” law, which has a $600 fine.

The “Dangerous Driving” law covers driving while eating, reading a paper, putting on makeup and many other things we should not be doing while driving.

Why can’t we just let police officers take a picture of the circumstances during their patrols, let the courts fine those individuals the $600 and, to make it worth the police departments’ time, give them 25 percent of the fine. Now that is consequence.

I bet we would see fewer people on phones and more Blue­tooth devices sold.

But wait. That’s right; we’re in Nevada.