LETTERS

Let's make it safer for pedestrians

To the editor:

Having a 6-year-old of my own, my heart goes out to Amelia "Mia" Decker and her family -- and my thoughts are with Alyssa and Rain Mowery ("Investigation of deadly crosswalk crash continues," Wednesday Review-Journal). But when are we going to realize that crosswalks produce a false sense of security and actually make crossing the street more dangerous?

I don't know how many times on Charleston Boulevard I've seen one car stop for a pedestrian only to have the cars behind it quickly change lanes to pass the stopped car. Just because one car stops doesn't mean all others see the pedestrian and know why the first car stopped. Yet when that one car stops, the pedestrian ventures into the street, making things more dangerous.

It would have been better for the girls to just wait until there are no cars around. The danger multiplies for children because once that first car stops, they assume all is safe, and off they go. Children are also usually smaller than the car that stopped, and thus no other drivers see them until it is too late. So what is the answer?

The fact that a pedestrian has the right of way is not the answer. Crosswalks, especially if they are not at an intersection with a light or stop sign, have to have some type of warning recognition for the vehicles. A good example of this is found on Decatur Boulevard between Ann Road and Tropical Parkway.

If not, then it is actually safer for the pedestrian to wait for all cars to be gone than to have the cars stop to give the pedestrian the right of way.

Stephen Waldron

Las Vegas

Improving safety

To the editor:

In response to the Friday story, "NLV officials lament loss of girl hit by car despite safety project":

As a parent and as one who frequently bikes and walks whenever I can, I was horrified and deeply saddened by the wholly preventable and unnecessary death of Amelia "Mia" Decker. I agree that we need to alter the perception that those who use alternative forms of transportation are second-class citizens. We as a society must inevitably seek these alternative forms of transportation beyond the almighty automobile to reduce congestion, improve the general health of the population and reduce our demand for foreign oil.

To that end, we need to step up enforcement of the laws protecting pedestrians and bicyclists and write more of them to prevent future tragedies.

Few drivers, for example, appear to be aware of the law that they need to be separated from bicycles by three feet. I have seen handicapped pedestrians crossing a crosswalk nearly hit by rude and inattentive drivers -- and even I was once nearly hit when walking in a crosswalk with my three small children.

We do need to make a serious effort to improve pedestrian and biking safety by expanding our sidewalks, constructing more bike lanes, reducing pedestrian wait times at lights, installing more pressure plates at intersections that can sense the reduced weight of bicyclists, constructing more crosswalks and building walking overpasses.

We also need to improve the availability of public transportation so that those individuals who no longer possess the skills to drive can still get around town. Funds for these projects should be garnered via a gasoline tax.

One measure of the coherence and viability of a society is the way that the defenseless are treated and protected. Many drivers in this town treat their 2,000-pound vehicles as weapons and show little concern for human life. They must realize that driving is a privilege and not a right. They must behave accordingly or else lose that privilege.

Let us all reflect on the loss of Mia Decker and resolve to prevent such future tragedies by encouraging a culture that reveres and respects all life and places safety above expediency.

Michael Pravica

Henderson

Train plan

To the editor:

I just read that the federal Surface Transportation Board has approved the construction of the DesertXpress. It seems to me that it is time to revisit Einstein's definition of insanity.

Does anyone remember the Las Vegas Monorail? It's a nice little route that travels up and down the east side of the Strip. After it opened and ridership grew, they were going to expand it to McCarran International Airport. How did that work out?

Now Sen. Harry Reid's HotAirXpress is attempting to do the very same thing. The only thing that surprises me is that there is not a stop in Searchlight.

Just think: Las Vegas, Searchlight, Victorville and back. What's not to like about that trip?

Fred Koshmerl

Las Vegas

Gun confusion

To the editor:

In response to the Monday story about Assembly Judiciary Chairman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, wanting to ban guns because some guy who was banned from owning guns used an illegal gun to kill people:

Mr. Horne wonders why we are selling assault weapons to civilians. Does Mr. Horne do any research before he opens his mouth? No one sold the assault weapon to the guy who was banned from owning a single bullet. He built it, Mr. Horne. He made an illegal machine gun, an assault weapon.

So what is your remedy? You don't have one? What should the remedy be? Ban something that is already banned? Machine guns are legal in Nevada, the IHOP shooter's was not. It was not a legal gun.

Those guns are already banned for civilian sale unless you have a Class 3 license issued under the National Firearms Act of 1934. So you are about 77 years too late, Mr. Horne.

Mr. Horne states that he is a gun owner. That means nothing. Saddam Hussein owned guns and that did not make him a nice guy.

What really scares me is the fact that the chairman of such an important committee does not have a clue. What else is he clueless about?

Remove him from his position before he causes real damage.

Ronald Bloom

Las Vegas

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. timothy Nov. 20, 2011 | 12:22 p.m. Report Abuse

   Assemblyman Horne is also the one who killed the concealed carry law on nevada campuses! He should be the one responsible if another woman gets raped or killed on campus because they left thier concealed carry weapon at home to obey nevada law. This man is a danger to law abiding citizens who have the right to protect themselves. He thinks politicians and police officers are the only ones who should be able to carry a concealed weapon!!!!! Make sure he doesn't get voted into another gov't office. This is a man who thinks our lives aren't worth as much as his!!

2. swally Nov. 4, 2011 | 4:04 p.m. Report Abuse

   In response to the responses to my letter to the editor concerning crosswalks -
   
   First, to BGHS1986 I didn't know I was trying to fool anyone. And yes, danger increases greatly when you enter that intersection even if you have a green light. And you do have a sense of security going through that green light, that is why we go through it.
   
   Also, you and lvfacts101 missed the whole point. My answer wasn't to wait it out. I said it would be safer. My answer was to have some type of lights, like you find on Decatur to help assist the driver in knowing that there is a pedestrian. Especially on crosswalks that are not at stop lights or stop signs. Like the crosswalk these girls were trying to cross.

3. Michael Justice Oct. 31, 2011 | 9:53 a.m. Report Abuse

   ...nor does might make right when it comes to some of our nasty drivers.

4. Michael Justice Oct. 31, 2011 | 9:42 a.m. Report Abuse

   James: Nuclear bombs can wipe out humanity due to physics, but that doesn't make it right to use them as weapons. Might does not make right contrary to the views of many of our "leaders."

5. James.Reza Oct. 30, 2011 | 9:14 a.m. Report Abuse

   Unfortunately, when "right of way" comes up against physics, physics always wins.

6. MSchaffer Oct. 29, 2011 | 10:23 p.m. Report Abuse

   So...TimeRanger,
   You have talked to Mr. Horne and know exactly what he knows and how much research he has done? Maybe not much, maybe quite a bit but how do YOU know? Or are you just engaging in the usual stupid talk conservatives normally do? In your case the old joke about "a mind being a terrible thing" is proving true.

7. MSchaffer Oct. 29, 2011 | 10:17 p.m. Report Abuse

   joe cool,
   That is because you don't have the cognitive skill to understand the problem.

8. TimeRanger Oct. 29, 2011 | 12:40 p.m. Report Abuse

   Ronald Bloom is correct. The problem lies with the fact that he is talking about a legislator's cluelessness. Of course Horne is clueless. He didn't do any research .. he saw an opportunity to get his name and possibly his face in the news and got up on his soapbox - thats it. Unfortunately, there is no prerequisite test for Common Sense before a person can run for office.
   
   One last thing Ronald ... ANYTHING can be an "assault" weapon - a potato chip, a shoehorn, a car, a book ... ANYTHING. It all depends on how a Person decides to use it. Even thermonuclear devices are harmless, until a Person decides to push the button.

9. Brendan Oct. 29, 2011 | 12:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   I wish police departments would enforce jaywalking laws as vigorously as they enforce pedestrian right-of-way laws.
   
   I see far more people crossing against don't walk signs, crossing in the middle of the road, leaving the sidewalk without any kind of pause or signal to the drivers that they're crossing.
   Without a doubt, pedestrian safety is an issue. Drivers don't yield to them, and many many pedestrians just cross when and wherever they feel like.
   
   These girls are (based on what's been reported so far) legally not to blame for what happened to them. Their parents didn't cause it and shouldn't have to shadow their kids' every move. The driver of the car who didn't respond to a car stopped at a crosswalk and apparently didn't see anyone in or around the road is the cause.
   
   I'm sure various agencies will begin a one-sided crackdown on motorists breaking pedestrian safety laws, but not pedestrians who break similar laws.
   
   Tragedies like that are not the norm. Various studies have found that pedestrians were at fault in as much as 85% of pedestrian fatalities.

10. joe.cool Oct. 29, 2011 | 12:22 p.m. Report Abuse

    I don't see Ronald Bloom misunderstanding anything. Which regulations would you add or change considering the regulations which are already on the books were violated by this guy anyway? What makes you think this guy would have obeyed any other regulations?
    Do you even know what an "assault weapon" is and who's selling assault weapons to the public?

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