Eric’s Question:

Eric wants to know why there are “no parking” signs posted by the road near the Henderson DMV where maybe there can be extra parking spaces! He says: I work down the street, and every time I drive by the DMV customers are forced to park on the adjacent streets because the DMV is so busy and there aren’t enough places to park! He says: the trouble is, it says “no parking” up and down American Pacific Street. These poor people are going to the DMV to get their drivers licenses they wait in line for hours, only to return to their car with a parking ticket on it! Either the DMV needs a larger lot, or one side of American Pacific needs to allow parking.

Melissa’s Answer:

I spoke to the City of Henderson for this who says American Pacific Drive is designed as an arterial street. This means it’s posted at 45 miles per hour and was built to support large volumes of traffic.The outside travel lane here where Eric suggested traffic could park- is actually considered a shared bike lane. The city says with the higher speed limit for this road and bicycle traffic here, this portion of road can’t be used for on-street parking. That’s why American Pacific Drive has the “no parking” signs posted. Unfortunately, this doesn’t help much with the parking problem- however it does make sense, at least for this section of road!

Rosemarie’s  Question:

Rosemarie called the Channel 8 Traffic Team and sounds very concerned about an intersection she uses in the northwest. ou can’t see anything coming at you when you’re at the intersection of Alexander and Cliff Shadows Parkway…model homes were recently built here. Even if you stop at the sign– the stop is 2 car lengths away from where you can actually see cars that are coming from the left. We need someone to check this out – I am worried about a bad accident happening here.    
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Rick’s Question: (more…)

Sherry Roretz wrote me an email and says: 

The northwest corner of Charleston and Rainbow is a very busy intersection, and when you are traveling westbound on Charleston there is a bus stop just past the intersection near the Albertsons shopping center. Traffic always gets stopped and backs up when the bus is loading and unloading. Can they move the bus stop so the cars turning into the center aren’t forced behind a waiting bus and into the middle of a busy area? Help, its a mess!

Question from Robert Magahan in Las Vegas:

When driving on Alta drive at Campbell, near “Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic School” there are flashing lights to warn drivers of the 15 miles per hour school zone. However, if you enter Alta from Campbell driving north, there’s nothing to let you know, that you’re in a 15 miles per hour school zone. They need a flashing light on Campbell or at least a sign to warn drivers like me! It’s driving me crazy!!

Melissa’s Answer:

I spoke to City officials about this area and crews are now planning to install a “backside flasher indication” for drivers that are traveling east on Alta. This “backside” flashing light will provide a warning for vehicles that enter onto the roadway between the other flashers that are posted in nearby. New signs will also be mounted on Alta just east and west of Campbell. These new additions should help warn people of the school zone coming up. The work is expected to start in the next couple of weeks.

Question from Daniel in North Las Vegas:

“For the last few months the intersection at Losee and Washburn has been driving me nuts! We drive in through Washburn Road where there’s a two-way stop. The thing is, Losee’s traffic doesn’t have to stop, but Washburn’s does! At times, it has taken us up to five minutes, just to get through this one intersection! Is there something that can be done here?”  (more…)

So, it’s pretty much done!  The 215 Beltway widening near South Decatur.  Drivers have been waiting for this to happen for a long time.   Remember that bottleneck at the 215 interchange with I-15 every morning and afternoon?!  It’s pretty much gone!  What a relief!

I don’t have to drive in the heavy traffic that much, because I work early mornings.  But, when I do, (especially at that interchange) I always thought to myself, how do people do it??   How do they sit in this clogged traffic for so long! 

It would drive me nuts! 

So even though I don’t experience the delays, I do feel the relief for all of you that do.   Three lanes makes a big difference!

You may see some closures overnight or early morning hours for a while, but don’t worry, there’s nothing new planned there for a while.

Enjoy the smooth commute!

P.S.   I am moving full time into the Morning Anchor position now.   We have hired the wonderful, Melissa Torres, as our new Traffic Anchor.  I will always have an interest in traffic and be involved on the morning show, but Melissa is taking over the position and “What’s Driving You Crazy?!” segment.   We are excited to have her!  And I am excited to work with a great morning team!

Oh boy, we knew it would come eventually, and it’s probably not such a bad idea.  Banning texting while driving in Nevada.  It seems far fetched, since we don’t have a cell phone law here… or even a primary seatbelt law! 

Here is the story that came out Monday 12/22/08:

MOST OF US HAVE EITHER DONE IT OR SEEN SOMEONE DOING IT… TEXTING WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD.  NOW THE REVIEW JOURNAL REPORTS STATE SENATOR SHIRLEY BREEDEN IS GOING TO PROPOSE A BILL AT THE NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION TO OUTLAW TEXTING WHILE DRIVING.

20 PERCENT OF DRIVERS ADMIT TO HAVE TEXTED WHILE BEHIND THE WHEEL.

TEXTING — EVEN TALKING ON A CELL PHONE… WITHOUT USING A HEADSET… IS ALREADY AGAINST THE LAW IN CALIFORNIA.

Well, what do you think?  Driving while texting is dangerous, period.  But, should it be a state law? 

Police tell me they don’t even consider it texting anymore.  They consider it “being under the influence.”  They say it’s THAT dangerous!   Some argue that driving and eating should be agains the law then… or driving and talking on your cell phone… etc. etc. 

Would you like to see texting and driving against the law?

Oh boy, this one sure struck a cord! 

I received a letter from a viewer about pulling out to the middle of the intersection when turning left on green.   He says he is tired of people waiting behind the stop line instead of pulling out, waiting until traffic clears, and turning left.  He says in California, that’s how they do it.   Clark, the man who wrote me, also pointed out that if people don’t pull out, he honks his horn at them!

 Well the letters came in after that.  Many of you agree it’s annoying when people don’t pull out.  And, many of you disagreed, telling Clark to calm down and chill out or go back to California!

Here’s the deal.   It’s not the safest thing to do when you pull out into the intersection, because if an emergency vehicle is trying to get through, you would be in the way.   BUT, it is NOT ILLEGAL to pull out either.  In fact, if you do, and the light turns red… the entire intersection must yield to you.  

Just remember, you are NOT obligated to pull out.  So Clark, you really shouldn’t honk your horn.

The Metro Police Traffic Sergeant helps break it down.  Here is what he said:

Here are some general rules, you cannot stop and block a crosswalk.  So, if a car in front of you is in the intersection waiting, you must wait behind the stop bar/crosswalk.  Drivers are not obligated to make those left turns, and the drivers behind them need to relax, calm down, and realize that honking your horn might only aggravate the situation.   If a driver stops on the crosswalk, they may receive a citation for Position and Method of Stop.  Also, if someone honks their horn excessively, they may also a citation.  The key here is to leave early enough so you are not rushing, and calm down when you are driving.  This will make our roads much safer.  

One more thing to think about, yellow means slow down and prepare to stop!!  Not speed up and try to beat the light.  The law is clear, you must “Slow down and use Due Care” when entering ANY intersection.  So those drivers that speed up to make the light are commiting a Due Care violation.

———

So, bottom line:  If you stop, stop behind the bar or crosswalk.  If you pull out, yield to traffic and only turn when it’s clear.  Don’t honk your horn because drivers are not obligated to pull out and turn left.   It might be safer to stay back, so emergency vehicles can get through the intersection if need be.

I hope this all helps!  Feel free to comment on what you think.

I love my car.   But it seems like even the littlest thing, cost a lot. 

I had my first “minor” accident with my car that I have driven for about 4 years.   It was the silliest thing!  I opened my garage, pulled out, and bam!  I hit my husband’s truck.   It usually isn’t parked there.  No excuse.  I should have looked.  I usually do, but habit got the best of me!

So I crunched my bumper.  

Did you know… get this…. a bumper cost about 750 dollars!! Yes, a bumper! Oh my goodness!  I didn’t break a tail light or anything. 

Well, that’s life.  Nobody was hurt.  So I thought I was going to have to come up with a deductible.  But then, I found a friend’s Dad to do the work.  He has an auto body shop, and he is searching high and low for business in this rough economy.

He was able to “fix” it, instead of buy a new one.  So that saved me some cash.

The bumper looks like new.  

Next, I have to replace my brakes and rotors.   Oh, and now I have an little oil drip!  

What will that cost?!