- 82nd Session (2023)
Senate Bill No. 107–Senator Daly
CHAPTER..........
AN ACT relating to highways; requiring the Department of
Transportation to establish a program to allow contractors
performing certain work on a highway to obtain a permit for
the use of certain law enforcement vehicles; and providing
other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Under existing law, the Department of Transportation is required, with certain
exceptions, to contract for all work of construction, reconstruction, improvement
and maintenance of highways in this State. (NRS 408.327) Section 1 of this bill
requires the Department to establish a program to allow a contractor who has been
awarded a contract for work on a highway to obtain a permit for the use of a law
enforcement vehicle owned by the Nevada Highway Patrol that: (1) is clearly
marked as such; (2) is equipped with at least one flashing red warning lamp and
may be equipped with other warning lights; and (3) has been rendered incapable of
being driven. Section 1 also provides that a contractor may only use: (1) the
flashing red warning lamp or other warning lamps if construction workers are
present; and (2) the law enforcement vehicle if the contractor has requested the
presence of an authorized emergency vehicle operated by a Nevada Highway Patrol
Officer and neither an officer nor an authorized emergency vehicle could be made
available in the area where the work is being performed.
Under existing law, certain state and local agencies are authorized to obtain
permits from the Department of Public Safety to own and operate emergency
vehicles in the performance of their duties. (NRS 484A.480) Section 2 of this bill
authorizes the issuance of such a permit for a vehicle owned and operated by the
office of a coroner or medical examiner.
Section 2 also makes a conforming change to allow the holder of a permit
issued pursuant to section 1 to operate the warning lights on a law enforcement
vehicle while parked on a highway.
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 408 of NRS is hereby amended by adding
thereto a new section to read as follows:
1. The Department shall establish a program wherein a
contractor that has been awarded a contract for the construction,
reconstruction, improvement, maintenance or repair of a highway
may obtain a permit for the use of a law enforcement vehicle
owned by the Nevada Highway Patrol that is:
(a) Plainly and clearly marked as a vehicle of the Nevada
Highway Patrol;
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- 82nd Session (2023)
(b) Equipped with at least one flashing red warning lamp and
may be equipped with additional warning lights; and
(c) Rendered incapable of being driven.
2. The Department may adopt regulations to carry out the
program established pursuant to this section.
3. Except as provided by subsection 5, a contractor who is
issued a permit pursuant to subsection 1 for a law enforcement
vehicle described in subsection 1 may:
(a) Tow the vehicle to and from the area where the work on
the highway is being performed; and
(b) Operate the flashing red warning lamp or other warning
lights while the vehicle is parked in the area in which work on the
highway is being performed only if construction workers are
present.
4. The use of a law enforcement vehicle pursuant to a permit
issued pursuant to this section, including, without limitation, the
operation of the flashing red warning lamp or other warning
lights, shall not be considered the false impersonation of a police
officer.
5. A contractor may only use the law enforcement vehicle
pursuant to subsection 3 if the contractor has requested the
presence of an authorized emergency vehicle operated by a peace
officer employed by the Nevada Highway Patrol and neither an
officer nor an authorized emergency vehicle could be made
available in the area where the work on the highway is being
performed.
Sec. 2. NRS 484A.480 is hereby amended to read as follows:
484A.480 1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS
484A.490, authorized emergency vehicles are vehicles publicly
owned and operated in the performance of the duty of:
(a) A police or fire department.
(b) A sheriff’s office.
(c) The Department of Public Safety, for vehicles that are:
(1) Operated in the performance of the duty of the Capitol
Police Division, the Investigation Division, the Nevada Highway
Patrol Division, the State Fire Marshal Division, the Training
Division and the Office of the Director of the Department of Public
Safety; or
(2) Designated an authorized emergency vehicle by the
Director of the Department of Public Safety.
(d) The Office of the Attorney General.
(e) The Division of Forestry of the State Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources in responding to a fire.
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- 82nd Session (2023)
(f) The Section for the Control of Emissions From Vehicles and
the Enforcement of Matters Related to the Use of Special Fuel in the
Department of Motor Vehicles.
(g) A public ambulance agency.
(h) A public lifeguard or lifesaving agency.
(i) The office of a coroner or medical examiner.
2. A vehicle publicly maintained in whole or in part by the
State, or by a city or county, and privately owned and operated by a
regularly salaried member of a police department, sheriff’s office or
traffic law enforcement department, is an authorized emergency
vehicle if:
(a) The vehicle has a permit, pursuant to NRS 484A.490, from
the Department of Public Safety;
(b) The person operates the vehicle in responding to emergency
calls or fire alarms, or at the request of the Nevada Highway Patrol
or in the pursuit of actual or suspected violators of the law; and
(c) The State, county or city does not furnish a publicly owned
vehicle for the purposes stated in paragraph (b).
3. Every authorized emergency vehicle must be equipped with
at least one flashing red warning lamp visible from the front and a
siren for use as provided in chapters 484A to 484E, inclusive, of
NRS, which lamp and siren must be in compliance with standards
approved by the Department of Public Safety. In addition, an
authorized emergency vehicle may display revolving, flashing or
steady red or blue warning lights to the front, sides or rear of the
vehicle.
4. An authorized emergency vehicle may be equipped with a
system or device that causes the upper-beam headlamps of the
vehicle to continue to flash alternately while the system or device is
activated. The driver of a vehicle that is so equipped may use the
system or device when responding to an emergency call or fire
alarm, while escorting a funeral procession, or when in pursuit of an
actual or suspected violator of the law. As used in this subsection,
“upper-beam headlamp” means a headlamp or that part of a
headlamp which projects a distribution of light or composite beam
meeting the requirements of subsection 1 of NRS 484D.210.
5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, a person shall
not operate a motor vehicle with any system or device that causes
the headlamps of the vehicle to continue to flash alternately or
simultaneously while the system or device is activated. This
subsection does not prohibit the operation of a motorcycle equipped
with any system or device that modulates the intensity of light
produced by the headlamp of the motorcycle, if the system or device
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- 82nd Session (2023)
is used only during daylight hours and conforms to the requirements
of 49 C.F.R. § 571.108.
6. A person shall not operate a vehicle with any lamp or device
displaying a red light visible from directly in front of the center of
the vehicle except an authorized emergency vehicle, a school bus ,
[or] an official vehicle of a regulatory agency [.] or a vehicle
operated pursuant to section 1 of this act.
7. A person shall not operate a vehicle with any lamp or device
displaying a blue light, except a motorcycle pursuant to NRS
486.261 , [or] an authorized emergency vehicle [.] or a vehicle
operated pursuant to section 1 of this act.
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