IRAAC Nevada v Smith

ASSIGNMENT 2

Assignment 2

IRAAC

Facts:

On January 1, 2021, John was ticketed for speeding, going 75 miles per hour on a four-lane highway in Nevada. Traffic was moderate, but intermittently light. The weather was sunny, but it had been raining an hour earlier. There were puddles of water on the shoulder, but not on the road itself. The road had four moderate turns in it for the twenty-mile stretch on which John was driving.

Issue:

Whether John was speeding.

Rule:

Under Nevada statute, the speed limit in the state of Nevada is whatever is “[a] reasonably safe speed under the circumstances.” Nevada State Code § 123.45. Courts determine whether the speed was reasonable by examining the weather, road, and traffic conditions. Nevada v. Smith, 1 P.2d 56 (Nev. 2020).

Analogous Case:

For instance, in Nevada v. Smith, the court held that 80 mph was a reasonable speed under the circumstances. Smith, 1 P.2d at 60. In that case, the driver was traveling 80 mph on a four-lane highway that was mostly straight, but it had two moderate curves in the thirty miles of highway on which the defendant was driving. Traffic was light but intermittently moderate; it was a bright, sunny day and the road was dry. Id. at 58. Because the traffic pattern was mostly light and because of the nearly perfect weather and road conditions, the court held that the driver could travel safely at 80 mph, making that a reasonable, legal speed under the circumstances. Id. at 60.

Application:

John will argue that at 75 mph, he was driving at a reasonable speed under the circumstances. The facts in this case are largely similar to the earlier case of Nevada v. Smith where it was found that at 80 mph, Smith’s speed was reasonable under the circumstances. This particular decision was founded upon the finding that in addition to the traffic being light (but intermittently moderate) at the time of Smith’s ticketing, it was a sunny and bright day. Similarly, in John’s case, at the time of his ticketing, the traffic was intermittently light and the weather sunny. Although the road was dry in the case of Smith, it should be noted that in John’s case, it had been raining an hour earlier but the road itself was not wet and only a few puddles of water were on the shoulder. Another key consideration in the case in Nevada v. Smith was the fact that the 4-lane road was mostly straight – making 80 mph a reasonable speed within the stretch under consideration. The 4-lane road that John was on was largely straight because within the 20-mile stretch on which John was driving, there were only four moderate turns.