LIVE from Nevada … it’s tag time!
Last week we mentioned the Department of Motor Vehicle’s new law that requires motorists registering their vehicle or renewing their registration to show a proof of insurance card at the counter. The new law, dubbed Nevada Liability Insurance Validated Electronically (LIVE), is designed to reduce the number of uninsured drivers on our roads. It has generated a few excellent questions from several readers.
What if you do your registration paperwork online?
At this point, you won’t be asked to prove you have insurance because there is no method to validate the information. When the system is fully implemented in the middle of March, the department will check for insurance before it mails out your new tags.
How about the kiosks at the DMV?
Again, at this point the proof of insurance card will not be required at kiosks, which spit out your tags right there. In March, the DMV will have the ability to display your information on the kiosk screen so that you may verify or change it. If your insurance has been canceled and you try to say it hasn’t been, you won’t have any luck getting your new tags. The DMV will know immediately the status of your insurance, and the machine will not print new tags if it has expired or has been canceled.
Now on to cameras. Corey is fed up with drivers who run red lights: Are they ever going to put the cameras on traffic lights that can take photos and issue speeding tickets?
Good question. State legislators have shot down supporters of this law enforcement tool three times starting in 2005. The most recent doomed proposal came last year when North Las Vegas Police Chief Joseph Forti testified that about 70 violators could be snagged each day at a single intersection in his jurisdiction.
Critics have knocked the cost of the system, and the American Civil Liberties Union questioned whether the cameras would violate motorists’ constitutional rights to privacy and due process. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 12 states allow cameras to capture speeders and those who run red lights, and 14 states allow cameras that ticket red light violators only.
Traffic officers do have a similar tool: the blue lights seen on light poles at many major intersections. The blue lights are triggered when a vehicle runs a red light and can be seen by drivers in the perpendicular lanes of traffic. So, police officers sometimes can nail offenders even when they cannot see the red light.
So, what are the cameras we see on traffic light poles?
These cameras are replacing the more traditional sensors installed in the roadway that detect vehicles and trigger the traffic lights. For example, at the intersection of Lindell and Flamingo roads, Lindell is considered a secondary street. When the camera sees the traffic flow on Lindell has passed through the intersection, it will switch the green light to the busier Flamingo.
Speaking of cameras, Robert wants to know about those on our valley’s freeways: Can a person access accident footage captured by these cameras to determine who might have been at fault?
Nope. The cameras monitor traffic in real time for the Regional Transportation Commission’s Freeway and Arterial System of Transportation, FAST. One of the purposes for the cameras is to let drivers know how long it will take to drive, for example, from Sahara Avenue to the Las Vegas Beltway. The images are immediately flushed away.
If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at (702) 387-2904, or send an e-mail to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.
Tonight’s basketball game against New Mexico at the Thomas & Mack Center is expected to sell out, and UNLV representatives are urging fans to arrive early for the 8 p.m. tip-off. Students start leaving campus around 7 p.m., which means the main parking garage and the garage on Cottage Grove will be available. Fans might have trouble finding spots even in the overflow areas by 7:45 p.m. As a side note, my advice is to use the Cottage Grove lot just off Maryland Parkway. A six-minute walk across campus is worth the more expeditious exit after the game.• Watch for lane restrictions on Durango Drive between Cheyenne Avenue and Alexander Road as the city repairs the asphalt. The restrictions will be in effect on weekdays for the next five months.
• Lane restrictions are in place on Village Center Circle, on Hills Center Drive between Village Center and Lake Mead Boulevard, and on Town Center Drive between Village Center and Summerlin Parkway. Traffic restrictions with sidewalk closures could be in effect around the clock on weekdays.
• Road widening continues today along U.S. Highway 93 south of Hoover Dam and is likely to cause delays for commuters traveling next week between Las Vegas and Arizona. Delays could be up to an hour as blasting and cleanup work is done. Also, 15-minute delays are expected on the 17-mile stretch south of the dam while the Arizona Department of Transportation does paving work.
• Expect lane closures and shifting on Craig Road for the next eight weeks as North Las Vegas starts converting the Craig Ranch Golf Course into a regional park.
• Work has begun on Neon Boneyard Park. During construction hours, which are between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., expect road closures on parts of McWilliams Avenue, Ninth Street and Encanto Drive.
• Construction continues on Flamingo Road between Interstate 15 and Audrie Lane. Flamingo is reduced to one lane at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard.
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
