Latest news with #Jaya'sLaw
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Yahoo
‘She was supposed to outlive me': Family shares emotional testimony in hearing for wrong-way driving bill
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A bill moving through the Nevada legislature would criminalize wrong-way driving; the family of the Las Vegas child it was named for made an emotional plea to lawmakers Wednesday. 'She was supposed to outlive me,' Darea Swain said of her daughter. 'And I had to bury her.' Swain spoke to lawmakers in Carson City Wednesday about the indescribable pain of losing a child. 'I won't get another birthday,' Jan Brooks, Jaya's father, said. 'Another chance to talk to her, another second with her.' Jaya Brooks' parents and grandparents spoke during Wednesday's Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure hearing, describing everything they lost more than a year after the three-year-old's tragic death. She was one of three people killed in a wrong-way crash on U.S. 95, now known as I-11 in the northwest valley. 'To this day, her room stands as a time capsule,' Jaya's grandmother Andrea Reine said. 'Of December 9, 2023.' The family hopes Jaya's story can spark real change with a bill moving through the legislature. Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts is sponsoring Assembly Bill 111, also known as 'Jaya's Law.' 'Somebody I was elected to represent reached out,' Assemblymember Hibbetts told 8 News Now. 'And I am able to actually do something for them.' The proposal would restore criminal penalties for wrong-way drivers on divided highways, making the penalty a misdemeanor, several years after it was turned into a civil matter. Assemblymember Hibbetts cited multiple wrong-way statistics during Wednesday's hearing. In 2024, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department saw 634 reports of wrong-way drivers in their jurisdiction. In the same period, Nevada Highway Patrol responded to 731 wrong-way driver calls, which included 123 crashes and 49 people killed. Jaya Brooks' family said while their grief will never truly end, they hope AB 111 will help prevent others from experiencing the same fate. 'All we have as families are just photographs and videos of our loved ones,' Darea Swain said. 'She had a whole life ahead of her.' Assemblymember Hibbetts told 8 News Now AB 111 passed unanimously through the Senate Committee Wednesday after also passing unanimously through the Nevada Assembly. The bill will go to the Senate floor next, and if it passes, it will then go to Governor Joe Lombardo's desk to be signed into law. In addition to working on AB 111, Assemblymember Hibbetts also told 8 News Now he is working with the Nevada Department of Transportation to install more wrong-way detection systems on more freeways. Currently, there are only four of them functioning across the state, and each one costs over a million dollars to install. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Emotional testimony for ‘Jaya's Law' argues for tougher penalties for wrong-way drivers
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A Las Vegas family made an emotional plea to state lawmakers on Tuesday, telling the story of 3-year-old Jaya Brooks, who was killed in a crash involving a wrong-way driver in December 2023. The girl's father, her grandmother, Assemblymember Brian Hibbetts and several law enforcement representatives wiped tears away as they urged passage of Assembly Bill 111 (AB111), which would restore criminal penalties for wrong-way drivers on divided highways. 'I think this is one we got wrong. We hear all about wrong-way driving on the news,' Hibbetts said, presenting the bill he is sponsoring. AB111, now known as 'Jaya's Law,' would make it a misdemeanor just two years after a number of traffic offenses were decriminalized and turned into civil infractions. The horrific crash occurred on Dec. 9, 2023, when a driver in the northwest Las Vegas valley entered U.S. 95 traveling south in the northbound lanes, going all the way from the Kyle Canyon turnoff almost to the Elkhorn Road overpass, a distance of 2.8 miles. A head-on crash killed Jaya, 63-year-old Karen Foote, and 50-year-old Antonia Apton of Bullhead City, Arizona, the wrong-way driver. 'I can't express how much pain I walk around with that'll never go away,' Jan Brooks, Jaya's father, said Tuesday in Carson City. 'Jaya literally won my heart the moment I saw her I always knew she would live her life with a purpose. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me at that time. I won't get another birthday — another second — to spend with her. She was my perfect person,' he said. Andrea Raney, Jan's father and Jaya's grandmother, said the crash happened when the family was only six minutes from home. 'Jaya was a 3-year-old bundle of love and light,' Raney said. 'She meant so much to all of us. Karen Foote was a special education teacher and a school psychologist from Sparks. She was visiting family in Las Vegas with her husband, Ray,' she said. 'Jaya and Karen should be here,' Raney said. Nevada lawmakers target 'resort fee'-style rent practices, age for gun ownership Hibbetts offered statistics on wrong-way crashes from 2024: The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department had 634 reports of wrong-way drivers that year. Nevada State Police Highway Patrol had 731. Statewide, 123 wrong-way crashes were reported and 49 people died. A representative of Metro police spoke in support of AB111, along with the Nevada District Attorneys Association and the City of Henderson. 'Stricter penalties and laws for wrong-way driving can discourage this dangerous action prompting people to think twice before breaking rules, keeping Nevada's roads safer,' Raney told members of the Assembly Judiciary Committee. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
