A speeding car came within five feet of hitting crossing guard Richard Jones after he stepped directly into its path near Maryland Parkway to stop it from reaching students in the crosswalk. Jones held his ground, and the driver braked in time — an outcome that left at least one parent calling him a hero.
The incident, first reported by FOX5 Vegas, unfolded near Maryland Parkway, a corridor already flagged by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department collision data as the ninth most crash-prone crossing in the Las Vegas Valley due to heavy traffic and pedestrian volume near UNLV. A parent who witnessed Jones place himself in front of the vehicle to protect students praised his actions, according to the station's report.
A Corridor With a History of Close Calls
This is not the first time a crossing guard on Maryland Parkway has had to physically intervene to stop traffic. In October 2014, a crossing guard was assaulted by a motorist near Silverado Ranch Boulevard after stepping into traffic to force a vehicle speeding at 50 mph to stop, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. A 2017 UNLV study on driver behavior along the corridor found that motorists frequently fail to yield right-of-way to pedestrians who have already stepped into marked crosswalks, per the UNLV News Center.
Hoodline previously reported that the same stretch near Flamingo Road had been ranked among the valley's most dangerous intersections, a designation tied to the same high traffic volumes and pedestrian activity documented near campus. That ranking, and the driver behavior UNLV researchers documented, help explain why crossing guards like Jones are sometimes forced into split-second decisions to physically block a vehicle rather than simply wave it down.
A Valley-Wide Spike in Student Pedestrian Crashes
Jones' actions land amid a sharp rise in student pedestrian collisions across Clark County. During the 2025–2026 school year, 427 school-aged children were struck by vehicles while traveling to or from school countywide, up from 139 during the 2023–2024 school year, according to statistics reported by the station. Statewide crash data from August 2026 also shows that 63 percent of pedestrian traffic fatalities occur in locations lacking marked crosswalks, underscoring the role crossing guards play in staffing the intersections that do have them.
Nevada lawmakers have responded with tougher penalties. Under Assembly Bill 6, signed by Governor Joe Lombardo in December 2025 and effective July 1, 2026, traffic violations committed in active school zones now carry doubled monetary fines and doubled driver's license demerit points, according to the Nevada Independent. Standard failure-to-yield infractions normally carry four demerit points before the school-zone doubling, and drivers who accumulate 12 or more points within a 12-month period face automatic license suspension under Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles regulations cited by Pacific West Injury Law.
Guards Stretched Thin as Coverage Expands
School crossing guards across unincorporated Clark County, Las Vegas, and North Las Vegas are contracted through private vendor All City Management Services and earn $17 an hour for roughly two hours of work aligned with school bell schedules, according to Clark County. As student pedestrian collisions have climbed, local governments including the City of Las Vegas have expanded funded crossing guard posts beyond elementary schools to cover high-need middle and high school campuses, the station reported.
Hoodline has previously covered crossing guards risking safety to shield children from reckless drivers across the valley. Jones' willingness to step directly into a speeding car's path fits that pattern, and it comes as lawmakers and county officials continue searching for ways to keep both students and the guards protecting them out of harm's way.
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