Committee reviews AB 55 to standardize crash toxicology reporting and electronic crash filing

The Senate Committee on Growth and Infrastructure heard testimony on Assembly Bill 55, which would update Nevada law to reflect current electronic crash-reporting practices and to ensure toxicology testing and reporting for deceased crash victims is aligned with federal fatality reporting requirements.

Amy Davey, director of the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, said much of AB 55 codifies existing practice and aligns statute with the Federal Highway Administration and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reporting requirements. Davey said the amended bill clarifies timelines for initial electronic crash reporting and acknowledges the Nevada Department of Transportation's role in the state's Safety Data Partnership.

Dr. Laura Knight, chief medical examiner for the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner's Office, and other medical examiner witnesses explained why the bill removes an existing statutory eight-hour blood-sample requirement. Dr. Knight testified the eight-hour limit "isn't really based in science" and that practical specimen collection timelines typically extend to within about 24 hours depending on transport from rural areas. She said delays of days, rather than hours, would introduce concerns about postmortem changes.

Davey described recent data-processing results: about 90 percent of coroner reports already include testing results for impairing substances. She cited a one-year analysis showing roughly 373 alcohol tests were conducted and about 366 of those included testing for other impairing drugs; about 10 percent of reports did not include testing results, often because a victim survived in hospital care before later death and samples were not available.

The amended text would broaden statutory language from testing for "alcohol" alone to testing for alcohol and other impairing substances and would remove the eight-hour sampling and 30-hour reporting mandates that do not reflect current practice. The bill also clarifies that initial crash reporting should begin within 10 days of the crash or death, in support of federal early-notification requirements for FARS.

No committee vote was recorded at the hearing. Committee members and witnesses emphasized that the bill largely formalizes processes already in practice, and medical examiners said the change would preserve the quality of scientific testing while aligning statute with real-world workflows.