LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — We’re less than a month into 2024 and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has already reported seven pedestrian deaths so far this year.
According to the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, pedestrian deaths are on the rise in Clark County. In 2022, there were 71 reported pedestrian deaths. In 2023, that number was 82, up more than 15%.
On Monday night, a pedestrian was struck and killed at the intersection of Flamingo Road and Burnham Avenue. Metro Police Department said it was caused because the pedestrian crossed the street outside the crosswalk.
“It’s not just about the person crossing the street,” said Erin Breen, the director of the Road Safety Alliance Project. “It’s the person behind the wheel teaching them to behave badly.”
Breen believes dangerous drivers enables jaywalking because drivers all too often exceed speed limits not thinking about pedestrians trying to outrun them.
“As a traffic safety advocate, the biggest problem is the speed that drivers travel," Breen said.
On Tuesday, Channel 13 counted 25 jaywalkers in a less than 30-minute timespan on Boulder Highway near Flamingo Road. Jaywalkers told Channel 13 the crosswalk feels inconvenient and often, more unsafe. Anthony and Tiffany who live in the East Valley said jaywalking is a daily occurrence.
“When we’re at the crosswalk right there, [drivers] don’t stop,” Anthony said. “They don’t wait for pedestrians so it’s easier to cross right here.”
They believe dangerous drivers makes it unsafe to use the crosswalk.
“We don’t follow the rules of going to the light but they don’t follow the rules of the traffic light,” Tiffany said.
In 2021, Nevada State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 403 which decriminalized jaywalking. Before the law, pedestrians faced jail time for the offense. While Breen doesn’t support pedestrians who cross the street illegally, she doesn’t believe they should be jailed either.
“Do I think they should be given a misdemeanor while everyone else gets a traffic citation? Absolutely not,” Breen said. “We offered a class in lieu of the fine and take the class and get that citation dismissed. I would like to see us go back to that treatment for pedestrians. I think they need the education.”
There is a public meeting about Flamingo Road from Paradise to Pecos at the Cambridge Recreation Center on February 13th from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
