Las Vegas Metro's "Every 15 Minutes" Program Educates about DUI
On Wednesday, Las Vegas Metro gave a presentation called "Every 15 Minutes" at a town hall meeting, where it showed video re-enactments of DUI-related car accidents. The program is meant to warn teenagers about the hazards of drinking and driving, especially with prom and summer vacation coming soon. Law enforcement hopes that educating young people now about Nevada drunk driving laws will help prevent deaths later.
The presentation also included a victim impact-type panel with family members of people who lost their lives in DUI accidents trying to impress upon the audience how drunk driving changed their lives forever. One woman who lost her son said, "I live the pain each and every day. I know he had a lot of dreams. He was the light of my life. I don't have that light anymore . . . For me, the greatest thing would be to turn on that TV and not hear about somebody being murdered by an impaired driver." And Metro Police Sheriff Doug Gillespie stressed that DUIs are a completely preventable crime: "We need to do a better job of communicating that message out there so they don't occur."
Nevada drunk driving laws makes it a crime to operate a car while impaired by drugs or alcohol. If your BAC is .08 or above, it's automatically assumed you're breaking the law. The penalties for violating Nevada drunk driving laws are fines, community service, DUI School and a victim impact panel. But if someone gets injured or dies in a DUI-related accident, the sentence can include several years of prison.
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