Highway safety: Nevada given passing grade

Paige Sullivan is jerked to stop while riding "The Convincer" during a safety fair at Clark High School in Las Vegas Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. The machine is designed to simulate a car crash at 5 mph and persuade people why a seatbelt is important. Nevada passed a highway safety checkup, but one improvement recommended by a national group is a primary seatbelt law, which would allow police to cite drivers for violations even if there were no other offenses. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal Motorists work their way Friday through traffic barrels on Decatur Boulevard over the northern Las Vegas Beltway. The County Commission on Tuesday voted to start a separate local fuel tax that eventually will add up to 10 cents to each gallon pumped in Clark County over the next three years for county road projects. Commissioner Steve Sisolak was the lone dissenter.

CARSON CITY — Nevada gets a passing grade for its highway safety laws but more needs to be done, including the adoption of a primary seat belt law, a national group said Wednesday.

The 11th annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws released by Advocates for Highway Safety gives Nevada points for seven of 15 laws determined by the organization to be necessary to reduce highway deaths.

Nevada gets credit for its motor­cycle helmet and open container laws, but it does not have a primary enforcement seat belt law for front and rear passengers. The secondary enforcement law in Nevada means that a driver must be cited for some other offense before a seat belt citation can be issued.

Top states received a green rating. Middle-ranked states including Nevada received a yellow rating, and the worst states got a red rating. Yellow means that states need to improve because of gaps in the recommended adoption of the 15 priority laws.

“After six consecutive years of declining fatalities on our nation’s roads, traffic deaths increased in 2012 to 33,561 fatalities,” said Jackie Gillan, president of the organization. “This alarming shift is a stark reminder that states must continue to pass and enforce strong, comprehensive highway safety laws.”

The fatalities in 2012 represented a 3.3 percent increase over 2011.

The Nevada Department of Transportation reported earlier this month that 259 lives were lost on Nevada roads in 2013, a decline of three fatalities from 2012.

The national group estimates that motor vehicle crashes in Nevada have an annual economic cost of $1.87 billion.

The top states in the national ranking are Illinois and Oregon with 12 of the 15 laws enacted. The worst is South Dakota with only two of the recommended laws.

The Nevada Legislature did not consider a primary seat belt law in 2013, but it did get a proposal to repeal the motorcycle helmet law. The bill did not get a hearing.

Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Follow him on Twitter @seanw801.