North Las Vegas police to target unsafe pedestrian behaviors, dangerous drivers

North Las Vegas police will be emphasizing pedestrian safety throughout the city’s business corridors Friday.

From 2 p.m. until midnight, officers will be targeting unsafe pedestrian behaviors such as jaywalking and violations by drivers that are particularly hazardous to pedestrians, including distracted driving and failure to yield to those on foot.

The fine for jaywalking is $195, police said.

The goal of the saturation patrols is to increase awareness of the hazards pedestrians face from the “volatile mixture” of dangerous pedestrian habits and inattentive or aggressive driving, police said.

Last year, 43 percent of North Las Vegas’ roadway deaths were pedestrians — more than twice the 21 percent rate in Clark County as a whole, police said. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the U.S. average is 13 percent.

Police said last year’s increase in pedestrian deaths may be related to the city’s economic recovery, in that returning commerce leads to increased traffic. The city has also had a resurgence of roadway construction, which reroutes traffic to less traveled roadways and puts pedestrians at risk in construction zones and on side streets

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Find him on Twitter: @WesJuhl.