NRS 484: Nevada Traffic Laws, DUI, and Crash Duties

Nevada’s traffic code sits in NRS Chapters 484A through 484E, and together those five chapters are what people mean when they refer to NRS 484 Nevada traffic laws. Chapter 484A handles general administrative provisions, 484B sets the rules of the road, 484C covers impaired driving, 484D sets vehicle equipment standards, and 484E spells out what a driver must do after a crash. The code applies to anyone operating a motor vehicle on a Nevada highway or on premises open to the public.

Rules of the Road in NRS 484B

Chapter 484B is the one most drivers brush up against, whether they know the citation or not. It covers speed, turning and lane changes, and how you share the road with pedestrians.

Speed Limits

Nevada enforces a basic rule alongside its posted limits: you cannot drive faster than is reasonable for the weather, visibility, road surface, and surrounding traffic, even if you are under the sign. Driving above a posted limit is a separate violation, and no one may exceed 75 miles per hour on any Nevada road under any circumstances.¹

School zones carry their own numbers. The limit drops to 15 miles per hour inside a designated school zone and 25 miles per hour in a school crossing zone whenever school is in session and the warning signs or flashing beacons show the limit is active.² Those limits lift outside the posted hours, but violating them during an active period brings both a citation and enhanced points.

Signals, Lane Changes, and Pedestrians

You have to signal before turning or changing lanes. In a business or residential district, the signal must run continuously for at least the last 100 feet before the maneuver. Outside those areas, where speeds are higher, the minimum is 300 feet.³

Pedestrians get strong statutory protection. When traffic signals are absent or not working, a driver must slow or stop to yield to any pedestrian crossing within a crosswalk who is on the driver’s half of the road or close enough to be in danger. Overtaking a vehicle already stopped at a crosswalk is prohibited until you can confirm the stopped vehicle was not yielding to someone on foot.⁴

Equipment Standards in NRS 484D

Chapter 484D sets out what your vehicle needs to be street-legal in Nevada. Operating a vehicle that fails these requirements on a public road is a citable offense.

Lights, Mirrors, and Horns

Every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle or moped needs at least two headlamps, one on each side of the front, mounted between 24 and 54 inches above the ground.⁵ At the rear, every vehicle needs at least two tail lamps emitting red light visible from 500 feet behind. Mirrors must give the driver a view of the highway for at least 200 feet to the rear, and the horn must be audible from at least 200 feet without being unreasonably loud or harsh.⁶

Window Tint, Seat Belts, and Wipers

Front side windows (those immediately to the driver’s left and right) must allow at least 35 percent of light to pass through. NRS 484D.440 permits a 7 percent tolerance on that measurement, so enforcement typically flags windows below roughly 28 percent transmission. There is no equivalent restriction on rear windows, which is why limousines and some SUVs can legally run very dark rear glass.⁶

Seat belts are mandatory for all occupants. Children must ride in federally approved child restraint systems appropriate for their height and weight, and a driver who violates the child restraint law faces a fine of $100 to $500 for a first offense. Functional windshield wipers are also required.⁶

DUI Under NRS 484C

Chapter 484C carries Nevada’s steepest traffic penalties. A third offense within seven years is a felony that can send you to state prison.

Blood Alcohol Limits

The legal limit for most drivers is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher. If you are measured at or above 0.08 within two hours of driving, you have committed a violation regardless of whether you felt impaired. Driving under the influence of a controlled substance or inhaled chemical is separately prohibited under the same statute, and no specific BAC level is needed for that charge.⁷

Commercial drivers face a 0.04 limit under NRS 484C.120, and drivers under 21 face a 0.02 limit under NRS 484C.130.⁸

Implied Consent and Test Refusal

By operating a vehicle on any Nevada highway or publicly accessible property, you are deemed to have consented to an evidentiary test of your blood, breath, urine, or other bodily substance if an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect impairment. The officer must inform you that your license will be revoked if you refuse.⁹

Refusing the test triggers an automatic one-year revocation. If you had a prior revocation for refusal within the last seven years, the new revocation jumps to three years. That revocation happens whether or not you are ultimately convicted of DUI, which is why refusal rarely functions as a defense strategy.⁸

DUI Penalties

Nevada counts DUI offenses on a rolling seven-year window, and each step up the ladder gets substantially worse.

First offense is a misdemeanor: two days to six months in jail or residential confinement, or 48 to 96 hours of community service; a fine of $400 to $1,000; a required course on alcohol or substance use disorders; a treatment program if your BAC was 0.18 or higher; a 185-day license revocation; and an ignition interlock device for the same period.¹⁰
Second offense is a misdemeanor: ten days to six months in jail, a $750 to $1,000 fine (or equivalent community service), mandatory substance abuse treatment, a one-year license revocation, and a court-ordered five-day vehicle registration suspension.⁸
Third offense is a category B felony: one to six years in state prison and a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The statute directs that, where practicable, offenders should be housed in minimum-security facilities and segregated from violent offenders.¹⁰

Every DUI conviction also carries a $35 civil penalty payable to the state and a $60 fee if a chemical analysis was performed.⁸

Duties After a Crash Under NRS 484E

Stop, Exchange Information, Render Aid

If a crash involves injury or death, you must immediately stop at the scene or as close as possible and remain there until you have met your legal obligations.¹¹ If the crash involves only property damage, you must still stop, though you can move the vehicle out of the travel lanes if it is safe.¹²

Under NRS 484E.030, you must give the other parties your name, address, and vehicle registration number, and show your driver’s license if asked. The statute does not explicitly require exchanging insurance information at the scene, though doing so helps everyone involved. You are also required to provide reasonable assistance to any injured person, including arranging transportation to a hospital if treatment appears necessary.¹³

Filing a Crash Report

If law enforcement investigates the crash at the scene and the officer’s report includes each party’s insurance details, you do not need to file separately. If no officer investigated, and the crash resulted in injury, death, or at least $750 in total property damage, you must file a written or electronic report with the DMV within 10 days. The form is called the SR-1 Report of Traffic Crash and requires a repair estimate or total-loss statement for property damage at or above $750 and a doctor’s statement for each injured person.¹⁴

Hit-and-Run Penalties

Leaving the scene of a crash involving injury or death is a category B felony, punishable by 2 to 20 years in state prison and a fine of $2,000 to $5,000. The sentence cannot be suspended, and no probation is available. If multiple people were injured or killed, the driver faces a separate felony count for each victim.¹¹ Leaving the scene of a property-damage-only crash is a misdemeanor, which still produces a criminal record.¹²

How Violations Add Up: The Demerit Point System

Nevada tracks traffic violations through a demerit point system administered by the DMV under NRS 483.473. The statute sits outside the 484 chapters but drives the license consequences for the violations above. When a court conviction or infraction notice reaches the DMV, the offense is recorded with a point value scaled to severity.¹⁵

Speeding ranges from one to five points depending on how far over the limit you were driving:

1 to 10 mph over: 1 point
11 to 20 mph over: 2 points
21 to 30 mph over: 3 points
31 to 40 mph over: 4 points
41 mph or more over: 5 points

Reckless driving carries 8 points, the maximum on the scale.¹⁶

Accumulate 12 or more points in any 12-month period and your license is automatically suspended for six months. There is no hearing and no discretion; the trigger is mechanical. If you have between 3 and 11 points, you can remove 3 points by completing a DMV-approved traffic safety course, but only if the course is not part of a plea bargain with a court. The underlying conviction stays on your record regardless.¹⁶

A Note on Commercial Drivers

If you hold a commercial driver’s license, NRS 484 is not the whole picture. CDL holders operate under a 0.04 BAC limit instead of 0.08, and federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules add hours-of-service caps, medical certification, and drug and alcohol clearinghouse requirements that Nevada enforces within its borders.¹⁷ A driver using a personal vehicle does not need to worry about those layers; a driver behind the wheel of a commercial truck or bus does.

1
Justia. Nevada Code 484B.600 – Basic Rule; Additional Penalties for Violation Committed in Work Zone or if Driver Is Proximate Cause of Collision With Pedestrian or Person Riding Bicycle
2
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484B.363 – School Zone or School Crossing Zone Speed Limits
3
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484B.413 – Requirements for Turning on Highway; Signal for Stopping or Decreasing Speed
4
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 484B – Rules of the Road
5
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484D.110 – Headlamps on Motor Vehicles and Special Mobile Equipment
6
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 484D – Equipment, Inspections and Size, Weight and Load of Vehicles
7
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484C.110 – Unlawful Acts Relating to Operation of Vehicle; Affirmative Defense; Additional Penalty for Violation Committed in Work Zone or Pedestrian Safety Zone
8
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 484C – Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or a Prohibited Substance
9
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484C.160 – Implied Consent to Evidentiary Test
10
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484C.400 – Penalties for First, Second and Third Offenses
11
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484E.010 – Duty to Stop at Scene of Crash Involving Death or Personal Injury; Penalty
12
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484E.020 – Duty to Stop at Scene of Crash Involving Damage to Vehicle or Other Property
13
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 484E.030 – Duty to Give Information and Render Aid
14
Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles – Report of Traffic Crash
15
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 483.473 – Establishment of Uniform System of Demerit Points; Schedule of Demerits; Assessment of Points
16
Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles. Demerit Point System
17
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Hours of Service