LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – So far this year, Las Vegas Metro Police have responded to 35 deadly car crashes. A new bill is hoping to reduce that number.
According to a 2022 study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, traffic cameras could be the answer to deadly crashes at intersections. The study suggests cameras could even reduce deaths by 14 percent, something road safety advocates have been working to do for years.
FOX5 spoke to Norma Aguilar, who has come out in support of Senate Bill 415 after a driver ran a red light and killed her 22-year-old daughter nearly a decade ago.
“These were some selfies that she would take right here,” Norma Aguilar said. She showed FOX5 two poster boards decorated with photos of her daughter Savannah, who would have celebrated her 30th birthday in early March.
Norma tells us she doesn’t look at them often.
“She was just so wonderful and…” she said, tearing up. “Oh, we always had such a great time.”
In 2017, Savannah’s life was ended prematurely after a driver ran a red light and t-boned her car near South Roy Horn Way and West Sunset Road in Spring Valley. She was taken to UMC and died before her mother could get there.
“I have to live the rest of my life without her,” Aguilar relented. “It is hard because you expect to die before your children.”
Aguilar hopes Senate Bill 415 will make Nevada roads safer. The new bill, introduced Thursday, would allow traffic cameras at high-traffic intersections where other deterrents may have proved unsuccessful at reducing deadly crashes.
LVMPD Sheriff Kevin McMahill promised to push for a similar bill when he spoke to FOX5 last November.
“I’m tired of losing people on our roadways,” Sheriff McMahill said. “I’m tired of having my men and women go out there and pick up those pieces, and I’m tired of the devastation that occurs around it.”
Erin Breen is the Director of UNLV’s Road Equity Alliance Project, an organization dedicated to lowering traffic deaths. The group has also tried to repeal Nevada’s ban on automatic traffic enforcement cameras for more than 20 years.
“Getting that ticket, the whole idea is that it alters your behavior, and at least for six months to a year and you don’t do it again. We’re not looking for those to be really expensive citation,” Breen clarified.
An LVMPD police officer would have to look over the camera footage before issuing a ticket of up to $100. The funds collected would go back into the cameras or into traffic safety programs.
The Executive Director of Policy for National Motorists Association Jay Beeber believes that’s a sign SB 415 is designed to increase revenue for whichever government entity implements the traffic cameras.
“Every time that we see a red light camera program around the country, the focus is almost always on issuing as many tickets as possible,” Beeber said.
Washington, D.C. is one example. The Mayor’s 2024 proposed budget relied on funds from expanding its traffic camera programs.
A case analysis from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio looked at thousands of crashes over 12 years at intersections with red light cameras reported by the Texas Department of Transportation. In Houston, the analysis found, rear-end crashes went up by 18 percent.
Beeber believes crashes at intersections are often engineering problems, not driver enforcement problems. He recommends following in West Hollywood’s footsteps instead. The California city said 16 different intersections had fewer accidents once they improved signal timings and road markings.
“Just by increasing your yellow light time, you can reduce your red light violations by 70 to 90 percent, depending on how long the light is to start with,” added Beeber.
Before Aguilar’s daughter died, she said they were always together. And now, she says they still are, thanks to medallions made for her and other family members from some of Savannah’s ashes.
In honor of Savannah, Aguilar believes traffic cameras are at least worth a try in the valley. “To prevent more victims and families having to go through what my family has gone through.”
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