Barely Adequate – Nevada Cited For Having ‘Numerous Gaps’ In Study Analyzing Highway Safety Laws

You really can’t spend much time on the roads of Nevada without driving down a highway. Our highways are wide open and allow people to make good time between destinations. We are also known as a ‘live and let live’ state where we are not overburdened with an enormous number of laws and regulations that relate to our driving. While this reality offers many different positives, it can also lead to some negatives, and that’s somewhat the case when the relative safety of drivers and passengers on Nevada’s highways is compared to that in other states.

Recently, the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety released a study that took an extensive look at the different types of driver and passenger safety laws that relate to each jurisdiction in the country. Examples of the types of laws that were examined included those that related to child restraints, teen driving regulations and motorcycle helmet requirements. Unfortunately, Nevada did not score well in this analysis, as it was given a rating of ‘Yellow’ that means that Nevada “is advancing but has numerous gaps in its highway safety laws.” A link to the full report can be found here.

Nevada was given a positive rating for having the following types of laws on the books:

• All-rider motorcycle helmet laws
• Six-month holding period for teen drivers
• 30 – 50 hours of supervised driving hours for teen drivers
• An age requirement of 18 for a full, unrestricted driver’s license
• A strong child endangerment law for drunk drivers
• A strong open container law
• All-driver text messaging restriction laws

However, Nevada was not given a positive rating because of the lack of the following types of laws in the state:

• Primary-enforcement seat belt law for both front and rear seat occupants
• Booster seat law
• Minimum age of 16 for a learner’s permit
• Nighttime restrictions for teen drivers
• Passenger restrictions for teen drivers
• Cell phone restrictions for teen drivers
• Ignition interlock device requirement for all convicted drunk drivers

29 states overall were given a ‘Yellow’ rating. Only 10 states were given a ‘Green’ rating and 11 states were given a ‘Red’ rating, which means that those states are “dangerously behind in the adoption of key safety laws.” The states given a ‘Red’ rating included:

• Alabama
• Arizona
• Florida
• Iowa
• Mississippi
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wyoming

It’s clear that Nevada provides the users of its roads with some protections, but the researchers for this study seem to think that the Silver State could use more. Unless or until that happens, those who are wrongfully injured in crashes in Nevada will need to make sure that they stand up for their legal rights with a different type of professional help. If you or someone you love has been injured in an accident in the state that was caused by someone else, you need to seek the help of Las Vegas accident lawyers who have been fighting for the rights of clients for 30 years. Contact High Stakes Injury Law today to schedule a free initial consultation.