• Carson Now on Facebook
  • Follow Carson Now on Twitter
  • Follow Carson Now by RSS
  • Follow Carson Now by Email

Nevada Highway Patrol offers travel and safety tips for Christmas holiday motorists

With Christmas and New Years Day each falling on a Tuesday this year, most families may be planning one or both holidays into a four-day event and traveling out of the area or staying near home and celebrating locally. Long holiday weekends generally means more motorists traveling on our state’s roadways thus increasing the calls for service for our agency. Please assist us with our highway safety efforts this holiday season by always driving with safety in mind first, being courteous to others motorists, and never drink and drive.

If your highway travel destinations will be taking you over any of the mountain passes, please check the latest road controls by dialing 511 or go online to www.nevadadot.com as there are several winter storms forecasted in our region this weekend. Speed too fast for conditions is the most common contributing factor of crashes when roads are wet, icy or snow covered.

Motorists should always adjust their driving habits to the current roadway and weather conditions and create a safer following distance with other vehicles to minimize an unplanned event when the driving conditions become a challenge. It’s much safer to slow down and arrive to your destination a little late as opposed to rushing to your destination and risking a speeding ticket or motor vehicle collision.

The Nevada Highway Patrol will be increasing staffing levels on both holiday weekends with a larger contingency of troopers planned during the New Year’s Eve timeframe. A portion of the additional staffing costs are being offset by a federally funded “Joining Forces” grant secured by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety. Additional troopers will be assigned to saturate various highways in northern Nevada looking for drivers who commit egregious violations as well as identifying impaired drivers.

To add awareness and education to this effort, we are planning and announcing a DUI checkpoint in the Reno area this Saturday evening. Several police officers, sheriff’s deputies and troopers from our local law enforcement agencies will be teaming up for this event. This checkpoint is also being funded by the “Joining Forces” grant.

In an effort to reduce our alcohol-related calls for service this holiday season, we are asking everyone to plan their festive celebrations safely and responsibly. If you plan on consuming any amount of alcohol, don’t get behind the wheel of a vehicle and drive. Plan ahead and identify a safe and sober person in advance to get you home safely; not the person in your group who has consumed the fewest drinks. If you see an impaired driver on the highway, please report it to us by dialing *NHP (*647) from your cell phone or (775) 687-0400. Those calls will be answered directly by one of our dispatchers in the Department of Public Safety-Communications Center.

Zero is our goal for statewide fatalities so let’s all work together and make it zero DUI arrests and zero DUI crashes this holiday season.

On behalf of the entire staff of NHP-Northern Command West, we would like to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday season.

— Trooper Chuck Allen is a public information officer for the Nevada Highway Patrol

Top Stories

... or see all stories

Junior Park Ranger Day is back this Saturday, April 27 at Riverview Park in Carson City.

Junior Park Ranger Day is an annual event dedicated to help kids complete their Junior Ranger Adventure Guides and be sworn in all in one day.

Carson City School District hosted a ceremony Wednesday morning with local dignitaries from the Nevada Department of Education and officers from local military bases. Carson High School was honored with a Nevada Purple Star School designation for supporting military-connected students and their families.

Motorists can expect traffic delays as Nevada State Police, Highway Patrol is investigating a fatal crash in Carson City that killed at least two people early Wednesday morning on I-580 southbound near Snyder Avenue and Fairview Boulevard.

A 37-year-old man was arrested for suspicion of obstruction, trespassing and felony sex offender failing to register, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office booking report.

Laura Ricks, TOSA/Instructional Coach at Empire Elementary School, was honored as the Carson City School District’s Educator of the Year, at the Tuesday, April 23, school board meeting and annual event.

Additionally, Sandra Guzzetta, special education paraprofessional at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, was recognized as the Education Support Professional Employee of the Year, and Chelise Crookshanks, principal at Mark Twain Elementary School, was recognized as the district’s Administrator of the Year.

5th St View

Photos capturing the beautiful views in Carson City on Tuesday afternoon at 5th and Roop Street.

Tickets are now available for this summer’s Capital City Brewfest. This year’s event takes place June 22 on Curry Street at McFadden Plaza in Carson City. More than two dozen brewers, as well as several food trucks, will line the street from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Plus there will be live music on the McFadden Plaza stage.

The Carson City Planning Commission meeting will be held Wednesday, April 24 in the Bob Crowell Board Room of the Carson City Community Center located at 851 E. William St. at 5 p.m.

The agenda includes trail improvements, a therapeutic horse riding academy, a care facility and more.

Western Nevada College’s Veterans Resource Center and Wildcat Veterans Club invite the community to participate in a Walk for Hope on Wednesday, May 1, at 9 a.m.

It's an opportunity to bring awareness to the national and local issue of suicide and identify local resources and learning opportunities for prevention. Veterans and military personnel experience death by suicide at a rate that is about 1.5 times higher than civilian populations.

Looking for a place to take your little ones this week? Look no further! Here is a list of family-friendly (and fun!) activities and events happening this week around the capital city.

Carson City Parks, Recreation and Open Space is looking for volunteers to help us clean up trash and other debris at the Carson Ridge Disc Golf Course on Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. to noon. Register today using the link here to spend a sunny day volunteering with your community.

Parent night series hosted by Carson City Juvenile Services will examine school absenteeism and attendance this Thursday, April 25. Parents, families and students are encouraged to attend.

At noon Friday April 26 on Paul Esswein’s radio program "A Masterclass for Master Plans" on KNVC 95.1 FM Carson City Community Radio, Carson High School AP students Bebe Keil and Tanner McCune will be his guests.

Prepare for a phenomenal adventure as the Twain Train VIP Excursion makes its triumphant return to the second annual Mark Twain Days Festival. Departing from the Eastgate Depot in Carson City on Friday, May 10 at 2:30 p.m., passengers will embark on a remarkable 24-mile round trip ride to Virginia City where they can experience various Mark Twain events.

Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team members, Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District and the USDA Forest Service, may burn piles this week at Lake Tahoe if conditions and weather are favorable. Smoke will be present.

The Nevada Department of Transportation will host a virtual meeting and in-person public meetings to gather public feedback on proposed options for improving US-395 between southern Carson City and the Nevada-California border at Topaz Lake.

ALAMO, Nev. — The Nevada Department of Wildlife is seeking the public’s help in identifying two individuals responsible for illegally releasing approximately 25 turkeys onto the Key Pittman Wildlife Management Area on April 9, 2024.

flyer for event all info included in body of post

BAYA is taking over the MAC in Carson City for an all out volleyball battle royal. With 4 courts in action, all skill levels are welcome and matched with players at the same level.

A 43-year-old man was arrested Friday for suspicion indecent exposure, a gross misdemeanor offense, and felony Department of Alternative Sentencing violation, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office booking report.

It’s spawning day at the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex, and volunteers clad in rubber boots and jackets move quickly around the south Gardnerville building, fishing nets in hand.

Important Qualities in Elected Officials

Attend the April 27th workshop at 9am – Qualities of an Effective Elected Official.

There are still a few spaces left for the "Victorian Secrets With Tea" on Saturday, April 27, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. The deadline for signing up has been extended to Thursday, April 25. The Carson City Historical Society (CCHC) presents this afternoon tea in the Carriage House behind the Foreman-Roberts Historic House at 1207 Carson Street, Carson City.

Every month, the Park Rangers offer various Ranger-Led programs that include educational opportunities, historical fun, and exciting adventures. All programs are offered for free and take place in one of the many Carson City parks and open space areas.

St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Carson City will host its first "Walking as One at 1" labyrinth walk on Saturday, May 4 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at 314 N. Division at Telegraph.

"Walking as One at 1" happens on World Labyrinth Day each year where participants across the globe engage in a labyrinth walk at 1 p.m. local time. This synchronized practice creates a 24-hour rolling wave of peaceful energy that passes from one time zone to the next across the world. The idea is to collectively contribute to a sense of unity and harmony.

The wise early settlers of Carson City made sure future residents would enjoy the beauty and the endless benefits that come with the planting of trees. What was then but a barren high-desert sagebrush landscape, is today a celebration of the hardiness of trees as well as the early settlers.

On Friday, April 26 at 1 p.m., the Washoe Valley Forum hosts a living history presentation, “The Reno Cure.” Local authors and historians David and Gayle Woodruff assume the fictive characters of wrangler Clive, and cook/housekeeper Vivian, that worked at a Washoe Valley “divorce ranch” from the 1940s to 1960s.

Local musician Liz Broscoe has released a song that features Lake Tahoe and the challenges to keep it blue, and it could become the next battle cry to protect the lake.

Liz has been working on a new album for over a year and she wrote "Mother Earth" as one of the songs for that album. She had finished writing the song when she saw the videos of the thousands of pounds of trash left on Zephyr Shoals on the 4th of July.

A local family and others aided in the search and location of a missing elderly woman Saturday night in Carson City.

Carson High School named Mikey Hoffer and Selma Works as the 2024 Prom King and Queen. A short coronation ceremony was held during the prom dance. Additionally, Rodrigo Diaz and Alissa Powers were crowned Carson High School’s Friendship Ball King and Queen during that dance Thursday evening in the Morse Burley Gym.

Carson City’s Community Development Director Hope Sullivan will be the guest speaker at the next Rotary Club of Carson City meeting. The public is invited to attend.