State Police: 20 fatal crashes in Northern Nevada since March 'shocking and uncharacteristic'
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 05/17/2022 - 1:07pm
An alarming surge in the number of deadly motor vehicle crashes this spring across northern Nevada is cause for serious concern for state law enforcement.
There have been 20 confirmed motor vehicle related fatalities since March in the Northern Command area of Washoe, Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties, according to Nevada State Police. Of those, more than a dozen have happened in the past two weeks.
"It's a shocking number for us and should be shocking for everyone," said Nevada State Police, Highway Patrol Division's Charles Caster. "The numbers we are seeing is uncharacteristically high in such a short period of time. We have been working on overtime handling this spate of fatal crashes."
The deadly surge should concern all those who travel on Nevada's roadways and is solid reminder that motorists should not drink or be impaired while driving, they should always wear a seat belt and they're driving behavior should be done defensively, not offensively, said Caster.
To break the figures down more, one of the fatalities involved a wrong way driver and seven of the fatalities involved motorcycle riders. And when looking at those who died while in cars, SUVs or trucks, at least four of the fatalities involved motorists not wearing seat belts.
Also concerning, of the 20 fatalities two were fatal pedestrian crashes — one in the Wadsworth area and the other in Churchill County.
Among the fatal crashes since March, four involved suspected impairment, with Caster noting that it takes several weeks for toxicology reports to be processed.
He also noted that some of the fatal crashes happened in the middle of the night, where fatigue or distracted driving may have been a factor, "which is as dangerous as impaired driving. That's a fact," he said.
Caster noted that while not necessarily the case among the 20 fatalities, Troopers have noticed a lot of aggressive, reckless driving behavior that can often lead to road rage incidents, injury or fatal crashes.
"With more than a dozen fatal crashes in northern Nevada in just the past two weeks, the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol reminds drivers to never drink or be impaired while driving, always wear your seatbelt and watch your speed," said Caster. "Also, be sure to leave plenty of room between you and the vehicles in front of you and always be looking down the road to give yourself time to react if a hazard presents itself."
