By: Dayna Roselli
Just in the last week we have reported on two rollovers…. one on U.S. 95 near Durango and another on Cheyenne near Allen Lane. This morning we showed an accident at the airport connector. The car hit a light pole, knocked it over, and that pole fell below to the road and hit another car! How!? Why? Do we all really need to drive this fast??
I know I talk a lot about rollovers and how they amaze me. Many of you have posted comments saying… it’s easier to do, than it seems. But… really? You have to admit… you must be going pretty fast.
So here’s my new question. Why does everyone drive so FAST? What purpose does it serve? Are you late? Are you rushing to Target? What?
I look forward to hearing your comments! Post away! :)
And… Drive Safe!
It’s not speed alone that’s the problem. Speed does exacerbate the problem of people who don’t know how to drive well. I spend 40 hours per week driving. I have a lot of distractions in my car; a computer, a radio, gps, lunch. Most of the time I’m driving and doing other things as well. I speed, sometimes I’m allowed to run red lights, and drive against traffic. (I’ll let you figure out of that means cop, medic, fireman, or taxi-cab). The point is, I’m normally doing at least 60 in a 45 and in the past 6 years of driving this way I’ve been involved in only 2 accidents. The first was not my fault (ran off road by a guy who made a right turn from a far left lane) and the second which was my fault resulted in a scuffed bumper and a broken blinker. I have been through several high-speed, high performance driving schools, and I have to recertify my skills every 2 years out at the speedway. Point is, if speeding and speeding alone is the problem, I should be dead by now. The problem is a combination of under-skilled, over-confident drivers thinking that anyone is capable of re-creating a scene from “The Fast & Furious” just because they have a driver’s license. And don’t get me started on the unlicensed drivers out there….
Comment by Urban_sarcasm — February 20, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
Will Las Vegas ever step into the mass transportation. I’m not talking about the very expensive mono-rail system for visitors. I’m talking about doing something that makes sense for the people that live here. Salt Lake City is experiencing great results with their light-rail system. It has cut down on locals driving to games and has kept a lot of tired drivers off the roads. Why doesn’t Vegas put their money into this rather than larger/wider roads? visit the web site below and get more information about their system.
http://www.lightrailnow.org/features/f_slc001.htm
Comment by Clara Munk — February 20, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
First I want to say, I think you are great Dayna. Finally, someone will speak up and say it how it is. Thank you. The problem in this town with everyone driving so fast is that with all the “got to do it now and get there now” attitude, we have people who continuously speed and run lights. Why do so many people think they have the “right” to cut you off, ride your “bumber” when you are doing the speed limit, or even a little over sometimes. Take a little more time to get where you need to go. If you are late, and you decide to speed to get there quicker, think about the people you affect by your actions. An accident, an injury/death, a speeding ticket, the raised insurance and ticket costs should be enough to remind you to slow down.
Comment by Rhonda — February 21, 2008 @ 12:10 pm
I appreciate all the speeding, reckless, non-signalling drivers who “know the rules are made for others” or who are “more important than the other drivers out there”. Eventually, they kill themselves and there is one less bad driver on the road. Hope they keep it up. It’s just too sad they have to take innocent victims with them.
Comment by Ken — February 21, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
I hate how fast everyone drives. Yesterday it was raining pretty good on the 215 heading eastbound and not once but twice I saw vehicles slam on there brakes and go into the emergency lane because they were driving soooo much faster than the speed of traffic and when they went to break they started to slide due to the rain. In my own vehicle I was almost slammed into by a white BMW because it figured it could just move over into my lane because it wanted to get that one car length ahead like thats really going to help. I also love when you will be going along at a good 75 MPH and a sports car or a big lifted truck (it’s always them) will come flying up behind you and then ride to the left of your car while riding your rear end to try to make you move over. It’s like seriously when I move over your going to get one car length ahead and once again it’s not going to help. Everyone just slow down and there will be less accidents and more importantly less fatality accidents.
Comment by Tiffany — February 21, 2008 @ 2:30 pm
The problem is that there are very little consequences for bad driving or enforcement of the driving rules. It is rare that you see a motorcycle cop pull someone over for poor and dangerous driving. Secondly, if you do receive a citiation, you can either call a lawyer friend and get out of the ticket all together. If you do not happen to know one, you are given the option of attending traffic school and your citation is reduced to a parking ticket, thus not effecting your record. This is the first state I have lived in that does not have some type of point system assigned to a driver license. When I lived in Colorado, you were given 12 points. Each violation had a certain point value assigned to it. If you lost 12 points in a 3 year period, your license was suspended. All moving violations stayed on your record for at least three years regardless if you went to traffic school or not. This effected your insurance rates. As a result, the drivers in Colorado seem to be safer compared to here. I believe if Nevada implemented something similar, you would also see an improvement in the driving situation.
Comment by Mark — February 21, 2008 @ 6:48 pm
To the first comment, since when are Taxi drivers allowed to run red lights? What gives them that right? I agree speeding is a little insane here, BUT we also cannot ignore the people that are going 35-45 in 60mph speed limit. I am aware that is the “limit” but people going slow cause accidents too.
Comment by Adema — February 22, 2008 @ 2:01 pm
Speeding is unsafe - I agree. However, going below the speed limit or even at the speed limit in what are considered the fast lanes is unsafe also. Yes-it is against the law to speed but it is not up to other drivers to enforce the law. Especially irksome is when a slower driver won’t move over, the faster driver finally gets the opportunity to pass and the slow driver speeds up so he can’t be passed. I’ve seen this several times and once witnessed an accident caused by it. When I see this battle between fast and slow I just back away from both drivers! Anyway speed is one problem but the basic and biggest problem is caused by drivers who are not courteous period.
Comment by Liz — February 22, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
People speed, on the surface streets, because they are rewarded with a green light. Whereas those who go the speed limit have to wait at every intersection for the red light.
Comment by Jerry — February 22, 2008 @ 10:30 pm
“The point is, I’m normally doing at least 60 in a 45 and in the past 6 years of driving this way I’ve been involved in only 2 accidents.”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME- “ONLY 2″!!!!
“…going along at a good 75 MPH…”
WHERE IS THE SPEED LIMIT OF 75 IN THIS CITY???
“However, going below the speed limit or even at the speed limit in what are considered the fast lanes is unsafe also.”
WHAT?????
SLOW DOWN!!!!!!!
Comment by Jill — February 25, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
I recently moved here from Philadelphia and although we have half the road width, windy roads, deer popping out all over the place, five times the number of cars and greater distances to travel we do not have the same problems as out here.
The traffic lights out here are way way way too long…it seems you get caught at a red light for five minutes…long red lights mean long waits and clogged streets..if the lights moved on a faster time schedule traffic would move along faster naturally. This would relieve many of the poor driving around here and the race not to get caught at the next traffic light would be eliminated….in addition on the free ways the folks of Las Vegas need to understand that you must use the full road when merging….don’t just merge right away. Use the entire length of the strip that you are given and this will lead to a smoother flow of traffic instead of making motorists stop and start while you merge at the improper time….finally when passing someone on the right or left you should always be cognizant of what they are doing. Is there turn signal on? If so they may be switching lanes and you may want to slow down instead of rushing up on their blindside. I see atleast 10 times a day this maneuver nearly cause an accident.
These are your causes of accidents Las Vegas.
Comment by Bruce — February 25, 2008 @ 10:01 pm
easy… for those who can’t drive, take them off the roads. if you can’t spare your own tire, then you shouldn’t be driving.
it will free up the congestion immensely, you can get to work on time without have to rush.
Comment by juan miguel — February 26, 2008 @ 1:18 am
drive right, pass left
if you’re not passing, get off the left lane. why are you on the left lane when no one is even on the right lanes, or being passed on the right? this happens at all hours of the day and night. same goes with semis, they have no reason to be on the left lane.
if your car can’t maintain highway speed, what are you doing on the highway? because you can doesn’t mean you should.
anticipate traffic
in other words PAY ATTENTION, then you wouldn’t rear end the car in front of you! don’t just look at the car in front of you, look at all the cars in front of you and them, as well as behind you.
dayna, let’s get back to rollovers… what does that have to do with speeding? please continue on telling me where traffic is
Comment by chinese person — February 26, 2008 @ 1:36 am
ive seen ford explorers roll-over in a parking lot at about 5 mph.. so speed isnt always needed.. people just need to learn how to drive.. and understand what there car can do and respect it.
my dad use to always say when we where passed by some guy speedin.
” there just in a hurry to there grave.. “
Comment by exlasvegan — February 26, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Speeding in Las Vegas, lol, thats funny. Today my boss and I drove from Henderson to NE Vegas using 95 and 15. My boss is one of those heavy footed people, yet around lunch time, he never made it past 65 because of the congestion on the roads. Imagine “Speeding” during morning and evening commutes, during these times speeding would be at around 35mph. Speeding is not the issue here.
The problem is road rage. People get pissed when someone is going slower then they are and henceforth tailgate. Someone merges on the freeway without regards for the other traffic, therefore the other drivers cut him off. Tail gating is probably the most common reason for accidents. Everyone could drive at 110 mph, as long as the reaction time is equated into your driving habits. The old saying of 1 car length for every 10mph is the best thing I learned many years ago. Unfortunatly, too many other drivers take that space as “Look a chance to squeeze in and annoy both the driver in front and me”.
One solution to the congestion would be: Merge lane for people going short distances, middle lane for longer distances, and fast lane for those heavy footed people.
Comment by William Jamieson — February 26, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
check the timing at nellis and boulder hwy nellis has 30 sec or less boulder has 2 or more min in the afternoon check around 430 pm
Comment by B Garcia — February 26, 2008 @ 6:57 pm
Remedial traffic school should be inforced every 5-10 years until the age of 40 and then it should be every 2-3 years. People know “everything about the road” and are going to do what they believe to be right if it’s right or wrong. Could be as simple as a 20 question test during the license renewal. Getting traffic school reminded me of the forgotten rules and laws that we break every day. Reducing the population of Las Vegas would also reduce the amount of traffic related accidents. However it would be difficult since we must build! So if you won’t reduce the populace then increase the number of hospitals and make sure you are paying attention next time you hit the street!
Comment by South West — February 27, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
In response to Mark (comment #6) Nevada does have a point system on our driver’s licenses. When an officer runs the status of someone’s license, at the end there’s a section where you get a list: Points, Accidents, Withdrawals, Schools. After each heading there is a number. This gives officers an “at-a-glance” view of how many points a person has accumulated, how many accidents they’ve been involved in, the number of times their driver’s license has been suspended (that’s the “withdrawals” section), and how many times the driver has attended traffic school.
The problem isn’t that we don’t HAVE the point system, its that the point system we have is rarely used efficiently. As someone else pointed out, there are plenty of options for people when they get a ticket. Our tickets here are expensive. The most basic moving violation (expired plates, speeding up to 10mph over the limit, no turn signal) starts at a $190 fine. Speeding 11 - 20 over the limit, and running a red light will get you a $300 fine. Driving without a valid license is $640. Reckless driving (3 or more moving violations within 1/2 mile), and not having a proof of insurance card in your car runs just over $1,100. There are many ways to get tickets reduced. Look at all the Ticket-Buster billboards around town. Or someone could go to traffic school, and POOF! most times the violation gets amended to a non-moving violation, the fine goes down to about $90 and NO POINTS! The officers are writing the tickets, the court system just allows people to get out of them with a little slap on the wrist.
Oh, and to “Adema” (comment #7)… my comment about the Taxi cab…. that’s a little thing we like to call “Sarcasm”, darling… it was a joke. Relax.
Comment by Urban_sarcasm — February 28, 2008 @ 3:27 am
I agree with William, above. The problem is road rage. For about the last year, I’ve taken the 15 south from Blue Diamond to Sahara every day to work, and from Sahara to Blue Diamond (and now Silverado Ranch) on the way home. I’m not a timid driver, but I leave distance between my car and the one in front of me. I’ve got people behind me honking, people to the side, cutting me off because there’s a little space there and they can’t resist moving into it….it’s ridiculous. Sometimes these people look outright frantic and frenzied. I’d like to see Metro camp out on the 15 in FORCE every day for two weeks until natural selection and $300 tickets took these jokers off the road.
Comment by reeek — March 4, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
In response to the guy who posted the 1st comment. He is a cop. I work for one of the government agencies here in Las Vegas and I see them (cops) getting trained in high speed pursuits and learning how to drive in high speed situations on a routine basis at the speedway. Secondly, our department works with CSI and North Las Vegas Police on all sorts of serious accidents, including ones involving loss of life. I MUST SAY SPEED DOES KILL AND I SEE IT MYSELF ON A ROUTINE BASIS. However, STUPIDITY AND DISTRACTED DRIVERS kills people also. It’s not only the speeders……Eating, talking on cell phones, or whatever is just as dangerous. There have already been 2 fatal accidents this week in North Las Vegas. Let’s keep the speed AND the distractions to a minimum people!!!
Thanks.
Comment by Ryan — March 5, 2008 @ 9:46 pm
Obviously, there must be some kind of massive jackpot for being first in line at the next red light. But, apparently, the “winning” red light is selected at random. Kind of like a slot machine, don’t ya think?
Comment by The Cloud — March 7, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
I speed because I have somewhere to go and I’ve spent too much time stuck behind someone who obviously had nowhere to be and decided to travel ten miles under the speed limit on a one lane road. To improve traffic and decrease accidents, everyone who has nowhere to be in a timely fashion at 7am-9am in the morning, please sleep-in. Also, please will someone tell the traffic officers that having them pull over people in rush hour doesn’t help improve traffic, it creates more of it! I wish the law dictated that when you get pulled over by a traffic cop on the freeway, you should pull off on the next exit. If rubbernecking was a competitive sport, the olympic gold medal winner would most certainly be a Las Vegan.
Comment by Christopher — March 17, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
For all the people who complain about tail gaters, I have just one question. Why is it SO difficult to travel in the right lane (slow lane) if you are doing the speed limit??? The left lane (fast lane) is for vehicles to pass the slower traffic that is traveling in the slow lane. If you are a regular “Sunday driver”, drive in the right lane with everyone else. If you feel the need to drive the speed limit in the fast lane, at least have the courtesy to move over when you see a faster vehicle approaching you!!!
Comment by Casey — April 1, 2008 @ 10:40 am
I can’t understand why it seems to take so much effort to use turn signals, or to turn and look before changing lanes, etc. But when my son went through driver’s ed recently, I realized that the problem is, Nevada does not adequately train people to drive!!!! No wonder there are so many idiots out on the road here. Not that you weekenders from Arizona and California are off the hook by any means!!! There are times on my morning commute that the “slow” lane is going 90 mph! That number is correct - 90 mph! Everyone trying to get from the left lane at Decatur to the right lane to take the 15 north. Everyone complains they hate their jobs, why are you all rushing to get there every day then? Get out of the house five minutes earlier, and stop being the nuisance you become when you think you’re going to be late. You speed because you have somewhere to be? Please! And yes, pull people over during rush hour. Pull them over wherever they are being idiots. Let people know they are not safe acting that way, ever. If you can’t tolerate that small amount of traffic here in Vegas, you need to stay off the roads. The rest of us would appreciate it.
Comment by Holly — April 11, 2008 @ 2:31 pm
Dana, you did a story on a traffic cop that was watching drivers and a truck was ready to pull over and could not see the other drivers. But the car stopped and allowed the truck to move even though he could not see him.You mentioned that this was called “Due ——something and I cannot for the life of me remember what the word was. I beleive it is from NRS. I had a women speeding through a parking lot hit me while I was backing out. She claims I hit her, but I was blinded by a duely truck and was slowly backing out with my brake on (which you would think she would see my brake lights), anyhow she is now trying to sue me. I need to make a statement and I would like to use this “word” if you don’t mind, it had to do with being courteous. Thank you JJ, PS tell Dave Hi.
Comment by JJ — May 4, 2008 @ 7:27 am
JJ — it’s DUE CARE.
Comment by Dayna — May 6, 2008 @ 5:32 am
JJ - just so you know, Due Care won’t help you at all if you’re talking about an accident that occurred in a parking lot. Parking lots are almost always private property and very few of the NRS traffic laws can be enforced on private property. Let’s say that John and Jane have a very large house with a very long semi-circular driveway. John’s coming home from work while Jane is leaving for work and they have an accident in their driveway. You’d think it to be absurd for a police officer to come take a report and issue John or Jane a citation, right? Absolutely. Most parking lot accidents are slow speed and normally result in minor damage and almost no injuries, however if there is major damage or an injury, a civil lawsuit is the best way to go. Parking lots don’t have “speed limits” so an officer couldn’t cite someone for speeding, and those stop signs are strictly Voluntary Compliance. A police officer could not legally sit in a Wal-Mart parking lot and write tickets for people who fail to stop for the stop signs located inside the parking lot. The tickets would be dismissed at court instantly.
Comment by James — May 13, 2008 @ 2:15 am
so I am confused, does that mean noone is at fault or I am or what?? Since there was not eye witness to help are you saying her law suit will most likely be thrown out? ????? JJ
Comment by JJ — May 13, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
I’m just saying that of course someone is at fault, however the “rules of the road” do not apply to parking lots. The driver of the car who hit you cannot be cited for (not using) “due care” because the incident occurred on Private Property. If you feel that the incident was not your fault, and it caused a lot of damamge, your best bet would be to sue the other driver in civil court. If the other driver is already suing you in civil court for damages, I would recommend calling the manager of the store and seeing if you can obtain any footage from their surveillance cameras which may show the incident. But going to court and quoting “due care” in this incident will not have any legal standing because the duty of drivers to use “due care” doesn’t apply to parking lot situations. In my opinion, this case would depend on a variety of information, such as how fast the other driver was going at the time, how fast you backed out of your parking spot, and many others. Obviously it would look better for you if the other driver had been going ridiculously fast for a parking lot (like 40 or 50). Playing devil’s advocate, if you just threw your car in reverse and backed out quickly without looking then it would look better for their case. Either way it’s up to a civil court judge or your respective insurance companies to decide who pays for the damages.
Comment by James — May 13, 2008 @ 11:51 pm
The new over pass at St Rose and the 15 freeway is very poorly designed and people seem confused. Just yesterday a person was going down the wrong side of the over pass. Is this the final design or will it be more clearly marked for all drivers? If locals are confused, what about visitors to Las Vegas?
Comment by Dolores — May 29, 2008 @ 7:02 am
What we need in this town are much more aggressive laws against speeding. There simply aren’t enough cops to police the freeways but the fines COULD and should be higher as a deterrent.
Take 215 from Summerlin to I-15, for instance. I drove that route for several years and perhaps only 4 or 5 days did I ever see a speed trap set up, out of over 720 days.
Comment by Captain Newbie — June 9, 2008 @ 5:15 pm
Well, Captain I will disagre with you in terminology only. The existing laws are aggressive enough with the “cheapest” speeding ticket you can get (1-10 over posted limit) being $190. 11-20 over the posted limit is $300, 21+ is at least $640, and depeding on how fast you were actually going once you exceed the posted limit by more than 21 miles per hour the fine could be as much as $1230. I’d say that’s pretty agressive. What you want to see is more ENFORCEMENT of the existing laws… NHP has something like 800 Troopers for the entire STATE OF NEVADA, and we all know Metro’s hiring of new officers hasn’t kept up with the explosion of residents here. Metro officers are busy handling calls for service, some of which are petty and downright stupid. You woulnd’t believe the things that people call the police for. Everytime Cashman field shoots off fireworks, people automatically call the police with “I heard 40 gunshots!!!!”… An 8 year old kid throwing rocks at another 8 year old kid is now apparently worthy of a call to police, and you wouldn’t believe the number of people who call in “prowlers” when there are 50 mile per hour winds making the trees brush against their house or their roof. It’s calls like that which keep Metro from doing agressive traffic enforcement.
Comment by James — June 10, 2008 @ 10:59 pm