Keep your hands on the wheel and off the phone

I had the pleasure of being a guest on Alan Stock’s KDWN-AM radio show Monday, and the two of us had a little disagreement about the new cellphone law. I don’t profess to be an expert who knows everything about the law, and obviously I don’t. As much as I hate to admit it, Stock was right, I was wrong. This first question explains what it was all about.

Are you allowed to dial a phone number when you are driving or stopped at a red light or stop sign?

Stock said no. He’s right. Let’s move on to the next question.

Just kidding. Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Loy Hixson said the driver must use the voice-activated feature on the phone, by saying the person’s name or phone number.

“The only time you’re allowed to touch your device is when you are activating or deactivating a feature,” he said. “In simple terms, if you are sitting in the driver’s seat of a vehicle, the phone cannot be in your hand.”

Doug called in to Stock’s show with this: Are there any plans to extend the express lanes into North Las Vegas to the Craig Road area?

Designated lanes in the North Las Vegas area are in the Nevada Department of Transportation’s plans, but it is unclear whether they will be express lanes or high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Transportation officials said the funding is not available to do anything at this time, and they will determine which type of designation is needed most when the division is prepared to move forward.

Eventually, whichever lanes are chosen probably will extend from U.S. Highway 95, similar to the HOV flyover we are seeing being built from U.S. 95 to Summerlin Parkway west.

Speaking of express lanes, Jay questions the purpose of them: I know you have had myriad questions regarding the express lanes on Interstate 15, but in the past two weeks I’ve had it. No one follows the law and constantly crosses the double striping. Within the past two weeks I have also seen a Metro officer with no emergency lights cross it. I really shook my head when a Nevada Department of Transportation truck did the same thing. Why bother with these express lanes anymore if the law is not going to be enforced?

Plenty of readers share your frustration, Jay. Here’s the deal, according to Hixson. When the express lanes first opened two years ago, motorists were given a grace period. Then the transportation division took down the candlesticks, which caused more confusion and, as a result, more patience by law enforcement officers.

Motorists were cited for failing to maintain a travel lane or failing to obey a traffic controlling device (the solid double white lines).

Now those lines are faded, making it difficult to enforce. Hixson said motorists have trouble seeing the lines and don’t realize they are crossing them or don’t realize they somehow ended up in the express lanes. So, the short answer is, no, it is not being enforced anymore.

That probably won’t change until the Interstate 15 south design-build project wraps up at the end of the year. At that point, the candlesticks will be erected between Sahara Avenue and just south of Russell Road.

Heather asks: I realize that you are supposed to move over a lane if you see an emergency vehicle pulled over on the shoulder of the freeway, but what if traffic is so heavy, you can’t get over?

Because we had Hixson on the line, we threw this question at him too. He said that if the adjacent lane is not available, the motorist is supposed to slow down to a “safe and reasonable” speed.

Some readers heard the magic number was 20 mph below the speed limit, but Hixson said that is not so. There is no specific speed the motorists should travel.

Dave wants to know when to resume: School zones are always marked by a sign or flashing light indicating a speed or children crossing, etc. Most of the schools then have a sign indicating that you have left the school zone, but not all of them have that sign. If there’s no sign, when is the school zone complete and when can I resume my speed?

The initial response from school officials and transportation safety experts was that school zones always have a sign that says, “End of School Zone,” but I sided with Dave on this one. I’ve seen it too.

The suggestion is to look on the other side of the street to see where the school zone sign is for vehicles entering the area from the opposite direction. That would be a solid indicator that it is safe to proceed at the normal speed limit.

The lengths of school zones vary depending on the speed limit and whether the school is in an urban or rural area. They are typically never shorter than 300 feet.

Remember last week when we questioned the purpose of tinted license plate covers?

Steve was kind enough to chime in on the subject: I think a lot of those dark covers are designed to hide the plate from traffic enforcement cameras. There are some on the market that guarantee the plate can’t be read from a photograph.

Interesting. Steve also noted that wouldn’t matter in Nevada, where enforcement cameras are not permitted.

Contact reporter Adrienne Packer at apacker@
reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904.