Senate Bill No. 521–Committee on Transportation

 

CHAPTER..........

 

AN ACT relating to motor vehicles; making optional the use of a siren by an emergency vehicle; specifically authorizing an emergency vehicle to operate warning lamps without sounding the siren; providing that a driver of an emergency vehicle who operates the vehicle’s warning lamps without sounding the siren shall be deemed to have adequately warned pedestrians and other drivers of his approach; and providing other matters properly relating thereto.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN

SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

 

   Section 1. NRS 484.261 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   484.261  1.  The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle or an

 official vehicle of a regulatory agency, when responding to an emergency

 call or when in pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law or

 when responding to but not upon returning from a fire alarm, or a vehicle

 escorting a funeral procession, may:

   (a) Proceed past a red or stop signal or stop sign, but only after slowing

 down as may be necessary for safe operation.

   (b) Exceed any speed limits so long as he does not endanger life or

 property, except that a vehicle escorting a funeral procession may not

 exceed the speed limit by more than 15 miles per hour to overtake the

 procession and direct traffic at the next intersection.

   (c) Disregard regulations governing direction of movement or turning in

 specified directions. The driver of a vehicle escorting a funeral procession

 may direct the movements of the vehicles in the procession in a similar

 manner and may direct the movements of other vehicles.

   2.  The privileges granted in subsection 1 apply only when the vehicle

 is making use of [audible] :

   (a) Audible and visual signals ; or

   (b) Visual signals only,

as required by law.

   3.  The driver of an authorized emergency vehicle or an official vehicle

 of a regulatory agency may park or stand without regard to the provisions

 of this chapter if he makes use of a warning lamp.

   4.  The provisions of this section do not relieve the driver from the duty

 to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons and do not protect the

 driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of

 others.

   Sec. 2.  NRS 484.607 is hereby amended to read as follows:

   484.607  1.  Every motor vehicle when operated upon a highway must

 be equipped with a horn in good working order and capable of emitting

 sound audible under normal conditions from a distance of not less than

 200 feet, but the horn or other warning device must not emit an

 unreasonably loud or harsh sound or a whistle.

   2.  A person driving a motor vehicle shall, when reasonably necessary

 to ensure safe operation, give audible warning with his horn, but shall not

 otherwise use the horn when upon a highway.

   3.  A vehicle must not be equipped with, and a person shall not use

upon a vehicle, a siren, whistle or bell, except as otherwise provided in this

 chapter.

   4.  It is permissible, but not required, to equip a vehicle with a theft

 alarm which is arranged so that it cannot be used by the driver as an

 ordinary warning signal.

   5.  An authorized emergency vehicle may be equipped with a siren,

 whistle or bell, capable of emitting sound audible under normal conditions

 from a distance of not less than 500 feet, but the siren must not be used

 except when the vehicle is operated in response to an emergency call or in

 the immediate pursuit of an actual or suspected violator of the law, in

 which event the driver of the vehicle [shall] may sound the siren [when

 necessary] to warn pedestrians and other drivers of his approach. A driver

 of an emergency vehicle may operate the vehicle’s warning lamps

 without sounding the siren.

   6.  A driver of an emergency vehicle who operates the vehicle’s

 warning lamps without sounding the siren shall be deemed to have

 adequately warned pedestrians and other drivers of his approach for the

 purpose of determining whether the driver met the duty to drive with due

 regard for the safety of all persons pursuant to NRS 484.261.

 

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