LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Traffic safety advocates, families of victims, prosecutors and lawmakers are among those calling for tougher penalties for DUI drivers that cause deaths on Nevada roads.
According to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, 51% of deadly crashes are caused by DUI drivers. Between 2015-2024, more than 3,500 people died in crashes on Nevada roadways.
Senate Bill 304 would toughen penalties for vehicular homicide.
Current state law mandates that offenders must have had three DUI offenses (within seven years), and can only be charged with vehicular homicide on the 4th offense that results in death.
SB 304 would allow on charges on the first deadly DUI offense, and increase jail time for DUI death from 10 to life or, alternatively, 10 to 25 years, and an increase from two to 20 years.
Prosecutors across Nevada and Clark County called for the change, elevating the consequences to the equivalent of second-degree murder.
Prosecutors said second-degree murder in Nevada involves a “reckless indifference to human life,” and those who get behind the wheel and willingly endanger others commit the same level of recklessness.
In 2020, the Nevada Supreme Court prohibited Clark County prosecutors from charging DUI drivers with second-degree murder.
“When you look at what vehicular homicide means, it is taking of a life on our roadways, which is comparable to murder– and I think that’s exactly what this legislation does,” said Andrew Bennett of the Nevada Advisory Committee on Traffic Safety.
“When we’re looking at holding people to a higher standard on our roadways and ensuring that we’re doing everything to protect our roadways, it’s important to hold people to the highest level of accountability that we can, and we believe that vehicular homicide is the best way to do that,” Bennett said.
Some public defenders opposed the bill, arguing that Nevada laws are already tough on DUI drivers. There should be more education for alcohol servers to prevent DUIs, defenders said during testimony at a hearing.
Senate Bill 309 also adds meth and fentanyl to a list of prohibited substances, allowing law enforcement to crack down on emerging DUI trends.
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