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The North Las Vegas Police Department Traffic Bureau is currently staffed by 16 officers, 2 Sergeants and 1 Lieutenant. The primary responsibilities of the officers within the bureau are proactive enforcement, enforcing violations of traffic laws that are the usual cause of collisions, and the investigation of most traffic collisions, including hit and run, serious injury and all fatal traffic collisions. Traffic Officers (commonly referred to as "Motors")
are assigned to work frequent collision locations which are identified
through accident report statistics. The Motors are also charged with writing
citations for other violations that may not necessarily be the cause of
the crashes, i.e.; Driver license violations, insurance and secondary
violations, such as seat belts. |
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The North Las Vegas Police Department participates in a grant called the “Watch Out For Pedestrian’s Grant” and it works like this. We stage a decoy person who walks out into the crosswalk. Midblock crosswalks are the ones targeted as they do not have walk signs or other devices already in place. The average driver’s response time is one half second. To make it fair to the vehicle operator a bright orange traffic cone is set up 200 feet from the crosswalk which equates to a 2 ½ second response time. 200 feet is what 2 ½ seconds of braking time equates to. Additionally, well before this marker and 300 feet from the crosswalk, a sign is put up that clearly states that there is “Pedestrian Enforcement Ahead” and we put out a press release. Even with all this advanced warning individuals are still caught ignoring pedestrians in the crosswalk. The goal here is educating the public. Be informed and be aware! Registering my vehicle:
Driving in the extreme right lane: A common misconception of many drivers is that it is okay to travel in the extreme right "lane", sometimes referred to as a storage, emergency or breakdown lane. This is the lane that is separated from the travel lanes by a solid white line. Unfortunately, many drivers mistake this for a really long turn lane, especially when major intersections like Cheyenne and Martin Luther King or Cheyenne and Losee begin backing up due to rush hour traffic. The problem is that drivers are not allowed to travel in that lane, even if their intent is to turn further up the road and definitely not from a half a mile away. True right turn lanes are, by usual design, about 100 feet in length and will be posted as a "Right lane must turn right" or "Right turn only" sign. A final indicator might be that solid white line will angle back towards the right, stopping at the road edge, indicating where you may legally veer to the right to prepare to make your turn. Unfortunately, drivers must remain in the traffic line that is backed up until they reach the true turn lane. If they give into temptation and travel in that far right lane on the other side of the solid white line, they run the risk of talking to one of our fine motor officers and, quite possibly, the Municipal Court Judge. More importantly, when drivers travel in that restricted lane and get into a collision with a vehicle legally pulling over to use that lane or the true turn lane, there is the chance of injury and vehicles getting damaged. Also, fines for collision causing violations are doubled by the court. So, it is the driver's choice: a few extra minutes
in line in traffic or a few extra hours (among other extra things) in
line at court. |
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT IS NOT LEGAL? I GOT IT AT THE CAR PARTS STORE! Equipment violation tickets can really confuse drivers. American vehicle owners love vehicle gadgets. Those blue, green, red and other color lights that are located on the hoods look really great at night. The problem is that they are not street legal... What about hydraulic systems? Not street legal... Low-ride suspensions? Not street legal... Let's not forget those mufflers that make the sports cars sound faster than they are. You guessed it! Not street legal! The list is extensive; there are many more equipment violations not listed here. The confusion occurs when vehicle owners believe that since they bought the gadget at a car parts store or through a catalog that it is legal to install it and drive on the street. This is where the manufacturer or seller's disclaimer comes into play, "The purchaser is responsible to know the laws applicable to their area prior to use" or some other type of legalese. To help clear the confusion about equipment violation questions,
consider a common piece of automobile equipment: the speedometer. Speedometers
will indicate top vehicle speeds of 100 mph, 120 mph, 140 mph, and some
even faster. Now, where can a vehicle be legally driven at those speeds?
Yet the vehicle was purchased or leased and it did not limit the manufacturer
from building a vehicle that can go that fast. In other words: The Purchaser Is Responsible For Knowing
The Laws |
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Self-propelled motor vehicles such as scooters and pocket bikes are fun recreational vehicles; however, they are motor vehicles, because they can get up to speeds above 30 miles per hour, therefore they must have the following equipment to legally ride on the road:
Without all of the above equipment, further defined in Nevada Revised Statues N.R.S. 484.081, 484.0798, 486.261, 486.311, and 484.607, these recreational vehicles CANNOT LEGALLY BE OPERATED ON THE STREET. NRS states that a Moped is defined: “Moped” means a vehicle which looks and handles essentially like a bicycle and is propelled by a small engine which produces not more than 2 gross brake horsepower and which has a displacement of not more than 50 cubic centimeters, and: 1. Is designed to travel on not more than three wheels in contact with the ground but is not a tractor; and 2. Is capable of a maximum speed of not more than 30 miles per hour on a flat surface with not more than 1 percent grade in any direction when the motor is engaged. (Added to NRS by 1975, 1082; A 1983, 896) Mopeds ARE DIFFERENT from Pocke Bikes and Scooters! For more information, view: For
News 3 (KVBC) story click here: |
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