Keep your eyes on the road. Isn’t that the first thing you’re taught as a young driver? Yet today, distractions are everywhere. In Las Vegas, they’re on every corner.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) points out that reading a text takes about five seconds. In those five seconds, a car driving 55 miles per hour will travel the length of a football field. While you’re being distracted, you run the risk of an accident.
In 2015, distracted driving killed 3,477 Americans. That’s why NHTSA has designated April as National Distracted Driving Month.
No Mobile Phone Usage in Nevada
We live in our cars. Once you develop a certain comfort level with driving, it’s easy to eat, change your tunes, or adjust the temperature. We’ve all seen the craziest things on the highway; women applying makeup, men shaving, people reading a book – and more. If you have kids or a dog in the car, you know how distracting that can be.
But cell phones have become the biggest distraction to car drivers. Nevada currently prohibits the use of any handheld devices while driving. The fines are $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second. There are also administrative fees that double the cost. Once you hit the third fine in seven years, you’ll lose your license for six months and have to pay a $200 fine.
Hands-free cell usage is no problem under the law. Now you might think that teenagers receive the most fines under this law; not so says the Nevada Appeal. They said most of the violations were from men aged 21 and older. Teenagers were responsible for only 5.5% of all the violations since the law was enacted in 2011. Here are some local city stats to consider:
- Carson City issued 2,882 tickets for cell usage in the past five years, 205 of those to teenagers.
- Douglas County fined 3,030 people during that timeframe, with 107 of those to teenagers.
- Lyons County cited 1,022 people, and 57 were to people less than 21 years old.
KNCO News reports accidents and traffic citations from distracted driving are on the increase in Nevada. The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles says in 2009 over 5,000 people in the U.S. died from distracted driving, whether it was texting or looking at a video. More than half a million injuries occurred.
Avoid Las Vegas Traffic Tickets
You can eliminate the risk of Las Vegas traffic tickets related to distracted driving by avoiding the three types of distraction:
- Visual, including taking your eyes off the road for even a second.
- Manual, which means you take your hands off the wheel.
- Or, Mental, which is when your mind drifts away from driving.
If you’ve suffered damages due to an incident involving distracted driving, contact the experienced Las Vegas accident attorney legal firm at Thunder Law. We know that distracted driving is dangerous driving, and we are committed to helping keep you and your families safe. We’re just a phone call away and can help you in your fight for justice.