LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Drivers who speed through construction zones may soon find a ticket in the mail, under a bill heard in Carson City on Tuesday.
Assembly Bill 402 would end Nevada's decades-long ban on automated traffic enforcement cameras, authorizing them for use in construction zones where workers labor just feet from traffic.
Learn more about it here
Bill sponsor Assemblywoman Selena Torres-Fossett says she wants the legislation to increase worker safety, a goal shared by the Associated General Contractors of Nevada and workers who build and repair Nevada streets and highways.
"At its core, AB 401 is about one simple but essential goal: to protect the lives of construction workers who risk their safety every day to build and maintain our roads and highways," said Alexis Motarex, a lobbyist for the contractors group.
"While road construction may be inconvenient for drivers, it's absolutely necessary for public safety and economic growth. Work zones are becoming increasingly deadly."
Under the bill, cameras would be used only in construction zones, and only when workers were actually present. Drivers who were speeding at 10 mph over the posted construction-zone limit would be mailed a ticket after a law enforcement officer reviewed the evidence of a violation, and they would have four months to respond.
Tickets would be sent to the vehicle's registered owner, but if that person wasn't driving, they could contest the citation in court.
Back in 1999, the Legislature banned the use of unmanned cameras to enforce violations such as speeding or running red lights. Lawmakers cited concerns about "Big Brother" and issues with challenging the citation in court, especially if the registered owner of the car wasn't the one who was driving.
There have been several attempts to undo that prohibition over the years — including a pilot program that wouldn't have issued tickets, or limiting the use of cameras to school zones — but all have failed.
This year, however, the idea has support from Gov. Joe Lombardo and Clark County Sheriff Kevin McMahill. McMahill said there simply aren't enough police officers to catch speeders and red-light runners.
Gov. Lombardo said he supports red light cameras to catch violators in Nevada
Currently, violations in work zones carry extra penalties, but that hasn't deterred drivers, many of whom are frustrated by long-lasting and seemingly ubiquitous construction projects around the valley.
Motarex told the Assembly's Growth and Infrastructure Committee on Tuesday that the Nevada Department of Transportation has logged more than 7,000 work-zone crashes in the last five years, which led to 17 workers being killed.
"These deaths were entirely preventable," she said.
Across the country, 19 states allow for automated enforcement cameras, with four additional states considering similar measures. Motarex said statistics show drivers speed less and crashes fell in states with automated speed enforcement.
In other legislative action on Tuesday:
More oversight for school police
The Assembly Education Committee heard Assembly Bill 420, which requires a quarterly report to the board of trustees whenever a school police officer uses pepper spray or a stun gun on a student. The report has to detail what the officer did to deescalate the situation. (The bill originally required a report for each use of force, and an independent investigation by the district, but those provisions were removed by an amendment.)
Uber insurance and liability
Heard a compromise bill supported by both Uber Technologies and the Nevada Justice Association over the issue of legal liability for delivery drivers. Assembly Bill 523 is a compromise measure that would see Uber provide $1 million in insurance, but also protect Uber from liability for the actions of drivers. The standoff with the trial lawyers prompted Uber to circulate a ballot initiative that would have capped attorneys' fees, but the Nevada Supreme Court struck that measure down.
Nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain
Heard a joint resolution opposing the use of Yucca Mountain as the nation's nuclear waste repository. Senate Joint Resolution 7 says "...with the abundance of safe, economical dry storage facilities at existing reactor sites, there is no current spent fuel emergency and nuclear power plants face no risk of shutdown, the members of the 83rd Session of the Nevada Legislature hereby urge President [Donald] Trump and Congress and all involved agencies to recognize the unsuitability of Yucca Mountain as the site for a repository to store and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste."
Threatening political ads
The Assembly Legislative Operations and Elections Committee passed a bill that would make it a crime to air a political ad that directs a threat or intimidation toward a candidate if the speaker knows the threat communicates an intent to cause bodily injury to a candidate or a candidate's family member. Assembly Bill 123, as amended by the committee, now heads to the Assembly floor. It drew opposition in the committee from Assembly members Brian Hibbetts, Lisa Cole and Dr. Rebecca Edgeworth, all R-Clark County, and Jill Dickman, R-Washoe County.
Ballot boxes
That committee also passed Assembly Bill 306, which would require ballot drop boxes in Clark County (10 boxes) and Washoe County (5 boxes) from the last day of early voting until the day before Election Day. The boxes must be available for at least seven hours per day, and, under an amendment, constantly monitored while in use and secured while not in use. The bill passed the committee with no votes from Hibbitts, Edgeworth and Dickman.
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