The population has been increasing rapidly in Nevada for many years. Along with the population increase has come the increase in vehicle traffic on our roads and highways and an increase in the number of crashes, injuries and fatalities.
In 2005, over 43,000 people lost their lives on roads and highways in this country; approximately 117 deaths per day. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for persons age 3 to 33. There were over 2,600,000 injuries nationwide in 2005. It is estimated that the economic cost of crashes in the United States in 2000 was over $230 billion. In Nevada, there were approximately 375 deaths in 2007, a steady increase from 314 in 2001.
The Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the Nevada Department of Public Safety through the Nevada Highway Patrol (NHP) and the Office of Traffic Safety are dedicated to making our highways safer and more efficient for everyone to use. These state agencies want to do whatever is possible to reduce the number of highway incidents which take too many lives and cost so much money and time. For these reasons, NDOT, the NHP and the Office of Traffic Safety have joined forces to inform the traveling public about the traffic laws in Nevada and how everyone can drive more safely. It is hoped that a continuing series of articles about traffic laws and issues will help reduce the needless injuries and deaths on our highways.
To find more information regarding Nevada’s traffic laws, state statutes are the first place to look. Nevada traffic laws are found in chapter 484 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS), on the Nevada Legislature's web site. In addition, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is a wealth of information pertaining to the standards used nationwide to install and maintain traffic control devices on all streets and highways.
The contributors to this series include Fred Droes, NDOT chief traffic safety engineer; Colonel Chris Perry, the chief of the NHP; Traci Pearl, the Division Administrator for the Office of Traffic Safety; and Brian Hutchins, a consultant attorney and a former Nevada chief deputy attorney general who donates his time to the project.
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Highway Work Zones
Double Penalties for Traffic Violations
Summer time is highway construction time. It is a time when the weather allows public road agencies and their contractors to build new roads or to do the work necessary to repair or maintain highways. This highway and road construction and maintenance often means that there must be temporary traffic control so that the work may be safely done by the workers and so that motorists can safely drive through these work zones.
The Department of Transportation website, and many publications, state the need for drivers to be patient and to drive safely in work zones. The NDOT website is updated to show highway construction areas and provides tips for safe driving in work zones. The website also has a work zone driving brochure and provides a link to The National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse. It also points out that the penalties for speeding in a work zone are double the usual penalty.
Speeding, however, is not the only violation for which the penalty is doubled. Nevada law provides that a person convicted of speeding or any other listed traffic violations that occurred in a highway work zone shall be punished by doubling the penalty for the primary offense. NRS 484.3667. If there is a traffic violation, then, the convicted driver will be assessed the penalty for the violation itself and the same penalty again for the violation occurring in a work zone. The additional penalty must not exceed a total of $1,000, 6 months of imprisonment or 120 hours of community service but it must be imposed in addition to the original penalty. So let’s review when this double penalty applies.
A work zone, called a “temporary traffic control zone” in Nevada, is defined as “an area designated as a temporary traffic control zone in which construction, maintenance or repair of a highway is conducted” and when highway workers are present or when the effects of the traffic violation “may be aggravated because of the condition of the highway” caused by the work. NRS 484.3667(1). These zones must be designated by the public road agency or its contractor with a sign before the beginning of the zone which states “DOUBLE PENALTIES IN WORK ZONES,” a sign marking the beginning of the zone, and a sign marking the end of the zone. NRS 484.3667(3). It should be noted that the absence of these signs will not relieve a driver of the additional penalty if the violation results in a personal injury to a highway worker or at least $1,000 damage to property. NRS 484.3667(4).
Now, let’s look at what violations can be subject to the double penalty. Nevada law lists more than 20 violations. These include: disobeying an authorized flagman, disobeying or interfering with a traffic control device, driving on the wrong side of the road or outside a marked lane, speeding, aggressive driving, reckless driving or a speed contest, vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence, drinking alcohol while driving or having an open container of alcohol, driving with an obstructed view, driving on a highway closed to traffic or removing closed highway signs.
“Drivers often have to navigate their vehicles through work zones where workers and equipment are operating within a few feet of traffic,” Nevada Highway Patrol Chief Chris Perry says. “Also, lanes are narrowed or detoured and pavement is uneven or even non-existent. All of this means that work zones are dangerous and drivers must be patient when driving in them.”
