You’re standing at pickup, watching the crossing guard wave the last few cars through, when you hear tires screech and a sound that stops your breath. Your child was three steps from the curb, but you could no longer see them. In the seconds after, nothing about the moment makes sense: the driver says they didn’t see the flashing lights, and you’re left sitting on the ground holding your child’s hand tighter than you ever have, in a place that was supposed to be safe.
A child struck near a Las Vegas school like this can leave parents with questions that the scene itself may not answer, such as:
- Was the 15 mph school-zone limit in effect?
- Did the driver ignore a crossing guard or fail to yield at a crosswalk?
- Could video, vehicle data, or school records show what happened?
A school zone pedestrian accident lawyer in Nevada can investigate those details while your family focuses on your child’s medical care and recovery.
At High Stakes Injury Law, we represent injured people and families throughout Nevada. Founder Scott Poisson has more than 30 years of legal experience and has helped recover more than $500 million for injured clients. We can determine which school-zone rules applied, identify the evidence needed to establish driver liability, and explain the legal options available to your family.
Contact us for a free case evaluation and learn about your legal options.
What Is the School Zone Speed Limit in Nevada?
Nevada generally limits drivers to 15 mph in a school zone and 25 mph in a school crossing zone while the reduced speed restriction is active. Which limit applies depends on how the roadway is designated and posted.
School Zone vs. School Crossing Zone
A school zone is located along a street adjacent to school property, where the reduced limit is 15 mph. A school crossing zone is located away from the school property along a designated route students use to cross the street, and the reduced limit is 25 mph.
That distinction matters after a pedestrian crash because a child can be struck several blocks from a Las Vegas school and still be within a protected school crossing zone.
When School Zone Speed Limits Apply
Nevada’s reduced school-zone limits do not apply at all times. The 15 mph school-zone limit and 25 mph school-crossing-zone limit generally do not apply:
- On a day when school is not in session,
- When an operational speed-limit beacon controls the zone and its yellow lights are not flashing, or
- When there is no operational beacon and the posted sign indicates that the reduced speed limit is not in effect.
The remaining exception depends on when the accident occurred. For accidents before July 1, 2026, Nevada law generally allowed drivers to resume the ordinary speed limit beginning 30 minutes after school stopped operating and continuing until 30 minutes before the next school day begins.
For accidents on or after July 1, 2026, that fixed statewide time period was replaced. The local government responsible for the road, or the Nevada Department of Transportation for certain state roads, now specifies the periods when the reduced school-zone limits do not apply. Those periods cannot include the 30 minutes before school begins or the 30 minutes after school ends.
How Is Liability in a School Zone Determined?
Drivers in Nevada owe a duty of care to pedestrians, including child pedestrians in school zones. If a motorist strikes a child in a school zone, legal liability generally falls under one of two categories: negligence per se or general negligence. Understanding the difference is critical to establishing fault in a personal injury claim.
Negligence Per Se: Violating Traffic Safety Laws
Under the legal doctrine of negligence per se, a driver is automatically presumed negligent if they break a law designed to protect public safety. In a school zone accident, a lawyer can establish immediate liability by proving the driver violated specific Nevada traffic codes.
Common examples of negligence per se include:
- Speeding through an active school zone in violation of speed limits,
- Failing to exercise care to avoid hitting a pedestrian,
- Ignoring a crossing guard’s signals or traffic control devices,
- Failing to yield to pedestrians, or
- Driving under the influence (DUI).
When negligence per se applies, the court considers the driver’s breach of duty already proven, shifting the legal focus to proving causation and damages.
General Negligence: Failing to Exercise Reasonable Care
A driver can still be held liable for a school zone accident even if they did not break a specific law or receive a police ticket. General negligence occurs when a motorist fails to act as a “reasonably prudent person” would under similar circumstances.
Driving at the posted speed limit and following a crossing guard’s instructions does not automatically mean a motorist acted safely. For example, a driver traveling 15 mph may still be found liable for general negligence if they fail to slow down further when:
- Dozens of children are actively approaching the curb or roadway;
- Parked vehicles or school buses obstruct visibility;
- Adverse weather, dense fog, or poor lighting conditions make it difficult to stop safely; or
- The driver fails to maintain a proper lookout or watch for children known to be in the immediate area.
Because general negligence relies on what a “reasonable person” would do rather than a clear-cut traffic citation, proving liability requires a deep dive into the specific facts of the crash.
Does Crossing Guard Liability Exist in Las Vegas?
Nevada defines a school crossing guard as a paid employee or volunteer whose duties include helping students cross a roadway. Crossing guards control when children enter the street, and Nevada requires drivers to stop when directed by a guard and remain stopped until the roadway is clear.
Crossing guards are a significant part of pedestrian safety in Las Vegas. The City of Las Vegas expanded its crossing-guard program for the 2026-27 school year, adding guards at Bonanza, Centennial, Desert Pines, Shadow Ridge, and Western high schools.
A crossing guard’s conduct may become part of the liability investigation when, for example, a guard directs a child into the roadway when it is unsafe, gives conflicting instructions, or otherwise fails to perform assigned crossing duties with reasonable care.
Determining responsibility may also require identifying the entity that employed or provided the guard.
Can My Child Be Held Responsible for the Accident?
A child can sometimes share fault for a pedestrian accident, but Nevada does not judge a child by the same standard as an adult. The Nevada Supreme Court has explained that the relevant question is whether the child exercised the degree of care reasonably expected from children of the same age, experience, and intelligence under similar circumstances.
Whether a particular child had the capacity to exercise that level of care is generally treated as a factual question. A court may first determine whether reasonable people could conclude that the child had that capacity. If so, the jury can then decide whether the child actually exercised the appropriate level of care in the circumstances. If the evidence permits only one reasonable conclusion, the court may resolve the issue without submitting it to the jury.
A child pedestrian accident lawyer in Nevada can examine how the child’s age, experience, and actions should be evaluated under this rule.
Contact a School Zone Accident Lawyer in Nevada
After a child is struck near a school, determining what happened involves examining the school-zone restrictions in effect at the time, crosswalk and right-of-way rules, vehicle data, the child’s age and conduct, and whether the liability of the crossing guard in Las Vegas should also be examined.
High Stakes Injury Law can help your family make sense of those issues and understand what comes next. After taking on a case, Scott Poisson holds a strategy session with the client to review the available evidence, explain the law and legal process, and answer questions about the claim. We also handle personal injury cases on a contingency-fee basis, so you do not pay attorney fees up front.
Your attention should be on your child’s treatment and recovery, not trying to determine on your own which Nevada traffic rules applied or who may be legally responsible.
Contact High Stakes Injury Law for a free case review with a seasoned school zone pedestrian accident lawyer in Nevada and learn how we can help protect your family’s rights.
Legal References Used to Inform This Page
To ensure the accuracy and clarity of this page, we referenced official legal and other resources during the content development process:
- Quillian v. Mathews, 467 P.2d 111 (Nevada Supreme Court 1970).
- City of Las Vegas, “City Of Las Vegas Adds Additional Crossing Guards For New School Year.” (July 2026).
- School zone or school crossing zone, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.363.
- Stop required in obedience to direction or traffic-control signal of school crossing guard, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.350.
- “School zone” defined, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.063.
- “School crossing zone” defined, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.060.
- Duties of driver of motor vehicle to pedestrian, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.280.
- Right-of-way in crosswalk, Nev. Rev. Stat. § 484B.283.