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Fatal Car Crashes in Las Vegas
As LV Personal injury Lawyers, we see our fair share of tragic fatal car crashes here. But the one that occurred March 29th involving a man who careened into a COVID information tent is especially unfortunate given our challenging year, with the confluence of an increase in fatal car accidents and a deadly pandemic.
At about 10:30 a.m. on March 29th, a silver Honda Accord was seen speeding along West Carey Avenue, running a red light and then hitting a Mazda SUV, causing the vehicles to spin.
That spin sent the Honda into a COVID-19 information tent, fatally injuring the driver. The driver of the Mazda was sent to UMC, where he was hospitalized.
Nevada Gets Bad Safety Marks According to an Advocacy Group
This comes at a time when a recent report by the Advocates for Highway and Motor Safety, an alliance of groups striving to make the nation’s roads safer, gave a dismal safety rating for Nevada. The group’s “red” safety rating reflects that “the state falls dangerously behind in adoption of recommended optimal laws.”
While the fatal crash of March 29th is still under investigation, it was in keeping with the group’s findings that one of the top causes of crash fatalities in the state was speeding, which seems to have been a factor in the recent crash. The report cited another reason for the increase in fatalities here was driver impairment.
The Nevada Office of Traffic Safety has reported that at a time when there were fewer people on the road, the number of traffic fatalities actually increased in Nevada.
Can We Do Better?
With the recent report, this puts our state in the bottom 12 of all states in terms of traffic safety laws, with only six of the 16 laws in place suggested by the advocacy group. We are one of only 16 states without a primary enforcement of front seat belt law. Consequently, a driver cannot be pulled over primarily for not wearing a seat belt. The group went on to make eight more recommendations to improve our laws.
While current state statute requires that all occupants of a motor vehicle wear a seat belt in any vehicle made after January 1, 1968, enforcement of this law is hampered by the fact that a driver may only be issued a citation if they were pulled over for another reason and they were found not to be wearing a seatbelt at the time.
And even then, the fine for this offense is only $25. Recent statistics suggest that over 318,000 Nevadans still don’t buckle up.
While it may never be known if a revised seatbelt law would have helped in the case of the accident on March 29th, we now know that the number of fatalities of unrestrained drivers and passengers increased by 20 percent from 2019 to 2020. It may be due time to change the laws to save innocent victims from devastating car crash fatalities in the future.
Getting Legal Assistance After a Fatal Car Crash in Las Vegas
At LV Personal Injury Lawyers, we are deeply committed to the families of those who have been fatally injured in car crashes in Nevada. If a loved one has been killed because of the negligence of another driver, you may be entitled to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the at-fault party.
Contact us or call us at (702) 800-4660 to discuss a possible claim.
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LV Personal Injury Lawyers
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Las Vegas, NV 89101