Pedestrians must pay more attention to traffic

To the editor:

I applaud Colton Lochhead’s Monday article (“Pedestrians putting themselves in danger”). For years, I’ve heard about how drivers need to be more careful about watching for pedestrians. Yet in my experience, I find it’s the pedestrians who should be taking more caution.

I came from an area of the country where pedestrians were rarely hit by cars, even though the pedestrian density was many times that of Las Vegas. The reason is that pedestrians in that area know that if you walk in front of a car, you will likely get hit or killed. In Clark County, pedestrians have the impression that they are entitled to walk into the street, even right in front of oncoming vehicles because they have the right of way. I can’t tell you how many times in Las Vegas and Henderson I’ve had to slam on my brakes to avoid someone who walked right in front of me while I’m going the legal speed limit.

It seems that this pedestrian right of way entitlement attitude is based on a lifestyle and laws in parts of California. This isn’t California, and pedestrians who walk in front of vehicles are going to lose the battle, or worse. Drivers in Nevada are from all parts of the country, and in most of those parts, they would never expect a pedestrian to step off the curb into oncoming traffic. Pedestrian right of way is a very dangerous attitude, and until pedestrians realize that, the carnage will continue.

RICHARD DEPASO

LAS VEGAS