New driving laws to take effect in Reno
Reno, NV (KRNV & MyNews4.com) — City of Reno officials have adopted new driving laws which will take effect in July of 2016.
The new "Rules of the Road" are detailed in the attached document below.
During the 2015 Nevada Legislative Session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 144. The bill authorizes local governments to enforce certain driving laws.
Under the new law, drivers will want to slow down in pedestrian safety zones, "Basically, it's a double penalty for speeding in a pedestrian zone, since we have had a lot of vehicle versus pedestrian accidents," says Officer Tim Broadway with the Reno Police Department.
Broadway added that the penalty for speeding in a marked pedestrian area will be up to a $1,000.
"People think tickets are a punishment, well they're not, they're an education, to educate people on poor driving habits," explains Broadway.
Also, under the new law, drivers can be ticketed for inattentive or careless driving. The document provided to News 4 by the Reno Police Department is posted below and in part states, "In order to cite drivers for a variety of non-specific activities that are dangerous to themselves, other drivers, pedestrians (other than the use of a telephonic device), it is helpful to police and the Municipal Court to have "catch-all" type Code citations that make these dangerous activities punishable under local law. These new Code sections are at 6.06.720 and 6.06.725 respectively."
Examples of inattentive driving would be eating or applying make-up, "Inattentive driving is any activity inside your vehicle, that's keeping a person from safely operating their motor vehicle," says Officer Broadway.
The new laws are aimed at making our roadways safer for motorists and pedestrians, "We're reaching out to the community and letting them know that we are taking driving a deadly weapon, which an automobile is, quite seriously," says Officer Broadway.
