Speed, Distraction & Impairment: The Trio Fueling Las Vegas Roadside Tragedy

Las Vegas streets have become more dangerous, not because of policy-makers, but due to personal choices. Metro Traffic Bureau is now spotlighting how poor decisions—speeding, distracted driving, and most alarmingly, failing to yield—are making our roads perilous. Fatalities from failure to yield have skyrocketed, up 123% this year compared to the same period last year. That’s despite only a fractionally higher number of overall collisions.

Lieutenant Cody Fulwiler of Metro is calling it ‘preventable,’ and rightly so. The root causes aren’t a lack of laws—they’re poor manners and reckless behavior. When drivers pull out without looking or make left turns against red arrows, they gamble with lives. This isn’t an enforcement failure—it’s individual responsibility gone missing.

Take the recent Durango crash, where a pickup, allegedly driven under the influence, struck and killed a motorcyclist. Speed and intoxication were at play, yet it was the driver’s choices—not the city’s—that determined the outcome.

Sure, some left-leaning advocates might call for more traffic cameras or harsher penalties, but that’s missing the point. It’s not about bigger government—it’s about citizens making smarter decisions. Fulwiler urges a simple fix: “take an extra two or three seconds to pay attention,” because that pause could be the difference between life and death.

At the end of the day, our communities need self-reliance on the roads just as they do at home. Instead of legal band-aids, let’s focus on personal accountability—encouraging drivers to obey speed limits, stay sober, and yield when required. That’s how we protect liberty and strengthen public safety.

Original source: News 3 Las Vegas / Las Vegas Review‑Journal / Metro Traffic Bureau