Another death renews plea for better drivers

Question Erin Breen about accidents involving young pedestrians, and she will rattle off intersection after intersection and fairly clear details, considering some of the tragedies happened more than a decade ago.

All were tragic. All were senseless. All continue to bother her for one reason or another.

One in particular drove Breen over the edge, prompting her to literally get in the face of a Las Vegas police detective and ask: How can a family lose a child only to see the responsible driver be slapped with a traffic infraction?

The fatal accident happened at Eastern Avenue and Bonanza Road in the early 2000s. A boy pushed the pedestrian button and set out in the crosswalk when he was run over and killed by a truck. When officers asked the driver whether he had seen the child, his response was, "Yes, I saw him and I thought he’d stop for me."

Breen, a spokeswoman for UNLV’s Safe Partnership Community, lost it when officers explained the motorist would be cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian, even after his statement to police.

"Give me something to charge him with," the detective told Breen. "I have nothing to charge him with."

And so Breen embarked on a years-long mission to persuade Nevada lawmakers to stiffen the penalties for motorists whose traffic violations result in death. The result, which came in 2007 after a 6-year-old was killed by a driver who ran a stop sign, was the ability to charge drivers with misdemeanor manslaughter.

"My intent was never for someone to do jail time," Breen said. "Families need to have some sense there was a price."

Breen works with government agencies and law enforcement to make communities safer, especially after tragic accidents.

She finds herself in that position again this week after a 78-year-old woman barreled through a crosswalk and struck three girls, killing 6-year-old Amelia "Mia" Decker.

Any time a child is killed walking across the street, residents understandably demand better signage. In reality, it is impossible to place flashers or signals or even stop signs at every crossing, partly because of the expense and partly because of how it would affect traffic flow, Breen said.

So many Southern Nevada families have lost children to senseless accidents, it makes one wonder if we have made any progress over the years. Is our community any safer? Are there ways to protect people who choose to walk?

Breen is researching a newer type of warning system: rumble strips similar to the rough asphalt on the shoulder of freeways designed to wake up sleepy drivers.

"If we could put them 35 feet before crosswalks to give you the slight rumble that says, ‘Hey, pay attention, there could be a pedestrian here.’ "

Protecting pedestrians largely comes down to training motorists.

Some residents are calling for the elderly driver’s head or even blaming the parents for allowing the young girls to be chaperoned in the early evening by a 13-year-old. A good number of those same residents probably have ignored cars stopped at crosswalks themselves, but fortunately never injured a pedestrian, Breen noted. Just the other day, during a three-block stretch she saw two cars pass her as she halted for pedestrians.

And really, anybody who drives in this town sees it happen all the time.

"It’s this mentality we have, ‘I’m in a car, you’re going to lose, get out of my way,’ " she said.

Last year in Nevada, 256 pedestrians lost their lives in traffic accidents, Breen said.

You can install flashers and motorists still might have no regard for pedestrians. The best solution is to adopt stiffer penalties for blowing through crosswalks, regardless of whether anybody is injured, and law enforcement stings. If motorists know officers are on the lookout, they are likely to be more cautious.

Whatever it takes to convince motorists to be courteous to pedestrians, it shouldn’t be the life of a 6-year-old child.

"I hope it wakes people up a little bit; that would be a positive to come out of this tragedy," Breen said. "I can’t imagine being that woman (driver), and I cannot fathom being any of their parents."

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call Adrienne Packer at 702-387-2904, or send an email to roadwarrior@reviewjournal.com. Include your phone number.