Cycling group’s campaign aims to reduce deaths on Nevada roads

As a publicist who works closely with bicyclists, Stephanie Forte is well attuned to traffic safety messaging.

But during a recent gathering with “non-cyclists,” Forte was pleasantly surprised when she heard a woman educate the group about the 2011 Nevada law that requires motorists give at least 3 feet of space to cyclists, or move over lanes when possible, which she had just learned through a media segment.

“That moment right there really proved that what we’re doing is making a difference,” Forte said.

Forte shared the anecdote Thursday morning during the unveiling of the “Let’s Get There Together” campaign launched by the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition, which will be advertised on billboards, bus stops, the internet and a newly painted mural at 100 E. California Ave. in downtown Las Vegas, where the event took place.

For cycling advocates, traffic safety is a yearlong discussion, but perhaps more so this week as the Las Vegas community reeled after a fiery crash early Tuesday that police blamed on impairment and speeding.

The wreck killed Tina Tintor, 23, and landed Raiders wide Receiver Henry Ruggs III, 22, in jail. Ruggs, who was later released from the team, is facing felony DUI and reckless driving charges.

Forte subtly mentioned the crash when she mentioned “choices” motorists made “this week.”

Andrew Bennett, spokesman for the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety and program manager for the “Zero Fatalities” campaign, mentioned a monthly report he had just received.

He said the state reported 28 crash-related fatalities in October, bringing the total to 315 for 2021.

Eight more people were dead by midday Saturday, including four killed in Southern Nevada, after the traffic safety event Thursday morning.

The latest was a passenger who died Saturday afternoon following a single-vehicle crash in southwest Las Vegas. The Metropolitan Police Department said the driver was suspected of impairment.

Seven more fatalities would make 2021 the deadliest year in a decade, Bennett said.

Numbers in “spreadsheets” are an unfair representation of those killed, said Keely Brooks, a board member of the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition, adding that the campaign aims to humanize lives that are at stake.

That is why the online campaign will feature portraits of Nevada pedestrians and bicyclists, she said.

They include “Sonya,” a pedestrian and real estate agent who loves coffee, dogs and the Golden Knights, and “Gee,” a toddler’s mother who also is a nurse and a cyclist.

“Zero fatalities” is essentially impossible, Brooks said, but significantly reducing the carnage is possible in a city like Las Vegas that was built from a “lofty vision.”

Making roads safer in the state is personal for the advocates and officials who spoke Thursday.

The Las Vegas cycling community lost five members in a DUI crash near Searchlight in December. And Bennett’s older sister, 18-year-old Lindsay Bennett, was killed by a drunken driver in 2009, a tragedy that aimed Bennett’s life to dedicate it to the cause.

Wrapping up his remarks, Bennett did something he had not done before: He called for a moment of silence for crash victims.

The attendees paused and bowed their heads.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @rickytwrites.