"Speed Kills," "Speeding," "Speed Limits."

Within a matter of three minutes… I received three viewer emails with the above subject lines.

Obviously, speed is a concern in the valley.  Someone wrote, "Why are the speed limits so high, and why don’t the police enforce the speed limit?  Are there not enough policemen on duty here or is it too dangerous for them to pull people over in the heavy traffic? "

I know one thing, Metro Police and the Nevada Highway Patrol are always saying they need more traffic officers and troopers.  You can only wonder if that would make a difference.  A few times I rode with NHP on the highway, and people had no problem passing us going 95 miles per hour.  It’s like drivers just don’t care.  Or else, they are in such a rush, they don’t even notice who is around them.

On Monday’s (12/4) morning show we are going to discuss speed and speed limits with Metro Police.  Did you know many of our main arterial streets have a posted speed limit of 45 miles per hour?  I know, it’s hard to believe when you sit at a red light and your car shakes as people drive through the intersection.  But, it’s true.

Posted by Dayna Roselli

Let’s all band together and make a pact.

We will drive the speed limit, we will be courteous on the roads, we will leave extra time to get where we need to, we will use our turn signals when changing lanes, we will leave plenty of room between our car and the car in front of us, we will pay attention and stay alert, we will look both ways before crossing an intersection, and again… WE WILL SLOW DOWN.

Four more people lost their lives today because of what police are calling a "reckless driver."  It happened Thursday night and shut down the I-15 near Cheyenne for about 11 hours.  Thirteen vehicles were involved. 

I feel like every day it’s something.  So many people are dying on our roads, many of them never see it coming.  Please, drive safe.  Put yourself in the shoes of victim’s families.  Think about the dreaded phone call they receive from police or the knock they get at their door.  If we all vow to be better drivers, I bet we can save dozens and dozens of lives.

Thanks.

Posted by Dayna Roselli

People wonder why we’re a society so obsessed about drugs — legal or illegal. They wonder why today’s youth think it’s OK. They think it’s OK, ’cause we’re a society obsessed by drugs. We get sick — take a pill. Turn on the TV, and inevitably we see drug ads. Kids don’t distinguish. We use the same word for legal and illegal subsances: Drugs.

I think the same goes for problems on our roads and highways. Police, and sane drivers everywhere want all the “rest” of the drivers to slow down, act sensibly, and drive courteously.

It won’t happen as long as we are in a society that promotes individual initiative, aggressiveness, and “me” above virtually all else that matters.

Police may be successful in forcing speeders to slow down, but it’s just a band-aid.

We as Americans didn’t get to be #1 by being “nice” (for the most part). As a collective consciousness globally we’re bullies, and we get our way…because we work hard, yes, but because we’re a culture of pugnacious, assertive, and self-centered individuals.

To really make drivers behave, they have to be considerate, caring, and sharing. Those are lovely words, and they apply to some of us some of the time…but not during a hectic, busy work day when the individual’s needs must be met in a dash to achieve more, have higher status, and if necessary — yes– walk (or drive) all over my neighbor on the road to get where I’M going while I’m on my way to the top!

Speed can be like a drug, actually. It literally raises the endorphins and other esoterically-named hormones that can change our normally calm demeanor into rage when we’re all sitting anonymously protected in our cans (cars).

Oh, and besides drugs, and a narcissistic love of self, our country is obsessed by the culture of cars too.

It doesn’t surprise me that the above combination leads to rude drivers being the #1 pet peeve in Las Vegas.

I have started a new segment on our morning newscast called What’s Driving You Crazy.

I knew I would get a lot of emails, but boy, I didn’t expect to get SO many.

People are frustrated out there. It’s great to hear about it, and help answer or solve some of the issues.

About three out of five emails I receive are "annoyances" and "frustrations"about the way people drive or something specific that annoys them about our valley highways. Some of these I can’t answer… but I thought I would at least "Share."

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I would really like to know why drivers who smoke feel that throwing their cigarette butts out the window littering our environment is acceptable behavior? Perhaps metro needs to enforce dome littering violations.

Troy J