Anyone who has been in Las Vegas for more than a couple months knows the biggest gamble in town—with the highest stakes and the worst odds—is not in the casinos but on the roads. It is also known that red lights are not always taken as a cue to stop.

The North Las Vegas City Council is taking action to stop motorists who are in too big a hurry to bother stopping at red lights by installing cameras at two intersections. The cameras—quite common throughout the country—detect when a vehicle is crossing the intersection against a red light, and take a picture of the vehicle’s license plate. In other states, the offending driver is ticketed, but that won’t be the case in North Las Vegas.

The Nevada legislature has banned the use of red light cameras to ticket drivers, but allows them to be used for surveillance purposes.

“You can’t change what you can’t document,” said North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Stephanie Smith. “I see this as saving lives.”

North Las Vegas Police Chief Mark Paresi and Las Vegas Police Sgt. Robert Roshak said the cameras would be mounted at unnamed intersections for six months before signs are posted announcing their presence. Officials want to see if knowledge of the cameras changes the behavior of drivers, and will present the information gathered to state lawmakers, hoping to convince them to allow traffic cameras in the future.

By Casino Connection Staff

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