subject: With Plenty on Its Plate, Legislature Piles on Big Helpings of Nevada Distracted Driving Laws [print this page] With Plenty on Its Plate, Legislature Piles on Big Helpings of Nevada Distracted Driving Laws
If you have ever participated in the phenomenon that is a Nevada casino buffet, you know that it is an experience like no other. Teeming mounds of delectable goodies of all types sweet and savory, naughty and nice beckon, and primal instincts from the deepest reaches of your brain begin sounding the alarm. It is only when you take a step back and contemplate your larger situation that you take pause: "I can't really sit here and eat all night"; "People will think I'm a pig if I stack my plate any higher"; "My wife will definitely notice if I go back for thirds on dessert." Taking a look at the task before the Nevada Legislature at the beginning of this session, the constraints have a similar feel as lawmakers try to span a multi-billion dollar budget while addressing other concerns as various as holiday designations and the passage of new Nevada distracted driving laws.
Just as the judging eyes of a waiter limit one's stay at a buffet to two hours or less, the lawmakers in Carson City have just 120 working days to complete all of their tasks. Seriously: 120 days to close a $3 billion budget shortfall at a time when the state's bottom-ranked education system has already been cut by one-quarter, when unemployment and foreclosure rates are the highest in the nation, when Indian gaming has decimated casino revenues, when wild horses are dying in roundups, when the lack of any Nevada distracted driving laws is facilitating dozens of accidents a year, when cities and counties insist they cannot cut services any further, when new reports show that water supplies in both major population centers are taintedOh, yes, and when the legislators have to tackle the once-a-decade Congressional redistricting process.
Truth be told, we probably missed something in that list. And truth be told, necessity will force the most pressing issues to the top and all the other proposals no matter how meritorious will have to hold for another session. In addition to the short timeframe on which legislators have to tackle Nevada distracted driving laws and other measures of public importance and necessity, the legislators themselves are also a constraint. Term limits prevent any legislator from serving for more than twelve years in the same office, and this election yielded a record number of freshman lawmakers new to their positions and often new to public office entirely. Though they have been in training for weeks and will surely do their utmost to keep pace, thrusting citizen-legislators into a maelstrom of important public issues like reshaping the state budget and passing Nevada distracted driving laws in only a few weeks' time is to demand an extraordinary performance of these men and women.
You may be thinking: Enough about the quirks of our legislature will these Nevada distracted driving laws affect my daily commute? We cannot know the answer, but in all likelihood the answer is yes. Most Nevadans now have access to a cell phone for calling, texting, or more, and although we all know better we often use these devices while operating big, fast, metal battering rams called cars. It is easy for any of us to think that we are the exception to the rule, but the data show that using a cell phone while driving is a distraction on par with driving while intoxicated. Studies find that there is often no difference whether or not a driver is using a hands-free cell phone, and Nevada distracted driving laws could also reach behaviors such as eating or reading while driving. If you are yet to understand whether a certain action of yours is not lawful, consult aNevada distracted driving attorney for advice.
Although there is plenty piled on the Legislature's plate for this session, 21st-century Nevada distracted driving laws are likely to be among a handful of non-necessary legislative issues to be addressed this session. As many as six bills are in the works, including revised versions of several bills that have been introduced in previous sessions. Coalitions of several legislators are forming to support passage of some consolidated Nevada distracted driving law and some of the legislation has been on the table for a decade. With several, able proponents in both the North and South, it is very likely that this session will see the passage of Nevada distracted driving laws that bring the state in line with other states and with the demands of driving-safety advocates.
