fatalities

Several of Nevada’s law enforcement agencies will target speeders in the northeastern region of the state through May 10 to change behaviors that have led to deadly crashes in the Silver State.

With its vast rural areas and wide roadways, Nevada is not immune from these behavioral challenges, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol. In 2012, of the 258 deaths on our state’s roads, 100 lives were lost due to speeding, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The death toll related to speeding increased by 24 from the previous year.

A memorial ribbon is being built this week at the Nevada Department of Transportation headquarters in Carson City that will memorialize the 25 NDOT employees who have died since the agency began while doing road construction work.

The ribbon is part of a campaign recognizing National Work Zone Awareness Week going on now through Friday. Once finished, the memorial at NDOT headquarters, 1263 South Stewart Street, will be draped with potted flowers.

Between now and April 20, Nevada’s Joining Forces law enforcement team will be cracking down on distracted drivers throughout the state. Nevada law clearly states that any use of a handheld electronic device — cell phone, mp3 player, GPS device — while driving is illegal and offenders will be pulled over and cited.

A $6-plus million repaving project along a stretch of Highway 50 east of Carson City is planned for late spring through summer with some safety improvements built into the plans, according to the Nevada Department of Transportation.

Merge lane improvements, slope flattening, the installation of a t-intersection and turn lanes for easier access at Flint Drive and State Route 341 are scheduled as part of the safety upgrades on Highway 50 between Deer Run Road and east of SR341, said NDOT spokeswoman Meg Ragonese.

Based on recent reports from the CDC, beginning in November 2013, there has been a number of reports of severe respiratory illness among young and middle-aged adults, many of whom were infected with Influenza A, the pandemic H1N1 2009 virus.

Here are some close-up photographs of mule deer found foraging for food among Carson City's west side back, front and side yards. Nevada has an estimated population of 110,000 to 112,000 mule deer, according to the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

Since early fall there have been a handful of deer colliding with cars resulting in some fatalities. When driving along dark streets, motorists are urged to look for deer crossings through neighborhood roadways and yards.

There's been a lot of traffic fatalities in Nevada this year. Some involving alcohol. Some not. So with this weekend bringing tens of thousands of people to Carson City for Nevada Day festivities, motorists should take it easy on the road. If you're going to drink, don't drive. If you're going to drive, don't drink.

On Friday the Carson City Sheriff's Office will do a saturation patrol of city streets. A saturation patrol is where patrol officers will be looking, specifically, for impaired drivers and those driving vehicles with expired plates or broken lights, said Sgt. Scott McDaniel.

Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong will run for a fourth term as the capital city's top law enforcement officer, announcing his 2014 re-election intentions Tuesday.

In what Furlong described as three "politically quiet but challenging years," crime statistics have trended downward since the 2010 election, which is remarkable given Carson City's economic climate as it continues to deal with the effects of a deep, prolonged recession.

Carson City department heads responded to questions from locals Monday in a town hall meeting. While the public was given plenty of opportunity and notice to attend and encouraged to speak, three actually came to the podium, including two Carson High School students and the chair of the Carson Animal Services Initiative.

Perhaps it wasn't advertised enough. I mean, it was on radio, in the paper, on the web, and of course on the marquee, but you know, people just don't see any of those things.

Perhaps it was the time for holding it. I mean, 5:30 to 7:00 PM in this town is dinner time, right?

Either way, the Carson City town-hall meeting, held by 11 heads or assistant heads of city departments, attracted a total of THREE DOZEN people -- two thirds of them consisting of the mayor, two supervisors, and city employees. ONE dozen were "normal citizens." Abnormal, if you ask me, because they showed up.

Drunk drivers will be cited and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, Nevada Highway Patrol and statewide law enforcement warn.

This Labor Day weekend, law enforcement will be out in full force in Northern Nevada, patrolling the roads for impaired drivers. With the state’s Zero Fatalities goal in mind, drivers should plan ahead and designate a sober driver if their weekend plans involve alcohol.

On Friday Aug. 9, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Nevada Highway Patrol, conducted a compliance checkpoint on U.S. Highway 50 near the Carson City county line.

Of the 1,741 vehicles that passed through the checkpoint, no alcohol related offenses were found. A total of 13 citations were issued for various vehicle and drivers license violations.

This spring, the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District purchased new vehicle extrication tools through grant funds awarded to the fire district through the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety’s Zero Fatalities Program.

The Zero Fatalities Program utilizes the Nevada Strategic Highway Safety Plan to educate citizens and increase awareness regarding safe driving practices in an effort to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on all Nevada public roads.

I was recently reading local commentary over on Carson Now titled, Driving is Interesting and an Adventure in Carson City. The title is sarcastic, the article really expressing the author’s frustrations with driving in our city. While the points made in the article are valid, they’re certainly not unique to Carson City. This is simply the reality of driving a car in an urban environment.

Carson City neighbors by the thousands gathered Tuesday evening at Mills Park for the 11th annual National Night Out.

The themes for the evening were community and neighborhood partnership and outreach. Judging by attendance, it was one of the largest gatherings thus far for the annual summer event, hosted by the Carson City Sheriff's Office.

"The turnout is one of the biggest I've seen," said DARE officer Lisa Davis, a coordinator of the event. "It says a lot about our citizens who have come together for a cause we all want: A safe and healthy community."

With neighborhood outreach as the theme, Carson City Sheriff's Office organizers say the National Night Out event at Mills Park on Tuesday will also highlight a number of new community wide initiatives.

The event runs from 5 to 8 p.m. and brings thousands of Carson City residents to the park annually in a open house environment, providing partnerships between law enforcement and the community. In Carson City, this event represents the culmination of efforts made to address crime, drugs, and violence and is the largest event of its kind in the area.

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office invites the general public and press to a conference on Thursday that will address accidents and fatalities on Highway 50.

For the past month, the Carson City Sheriff’s Office has been heavily engaged with the Nevada Highway Patrol’s Northern Command, Major Brian Sanchez, regarding the collision rates on Highway 50. From the very onset, we have seen leadership of a variety of agencies jumping on board to create a short and long term plan that will provide for a safer highway for everyone to travel.

UPDATE 10:30AM MONDAY: The Sierra Front Type 3 team battling the Pedlar Fire in Silver City took control of the fire at 11 p.m. Sunday night. As of 7:30 Monday morning the fire was 75 percent contained, according to the latest from Sierra Front Interagency Dispatch. Highway 341 from Highway 50 to the truck route "Y"was reopened. Highway 342 from the "Y' through Silver City to Virginia City will remain closed this morning.

The Carson City Sheriff's Office will step up DUI patrols for the coming Memorial Day weekend beginning Friday through May 27.

For the holiday period stretch there will be heavy saturation patrols for DUI drivers, a DUI checkpoint, and enforcing underage drinking laws. The purpose of these activities is to ensure that drivers in Carson City are safe and sober going into and during the holiday weekend, said Carson City Sheriff's Office Sgt. Darrin Sloan.

Nevada recorded 37 motorcycle-related deaths in 2012 according to the state's Office of Traffic Safety. With a continuing goal of Zero Fatalities, Gov. Brian Sandoval proclaims May 2013 Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

The proclamation calls on motorcyclists and motorists to be vigilant in their efforts to Share the Road to ensure the safety of everyone on Nevada’s roadways.

by MOLLY MOSER

The Senate Committee on Transportation discussed whether Nevada is ready for drivers to put their “pedal to the metal” by increasing the maximum speed limited on Nevada Highways to 85 mph.

Carson City firefighters battled a fully-engulfed blaze at an apartment complex early Tuesday morning that forced the evacuation of several residents.

The fire, reported at around 1:30 a.m., was at the Comstock Apartments, 1215 East Fifth Street near the corner of Parkland in Carson City. It began in a lower unit and spread to nearby apartments on the ground and top floor and into the attic. There were no reported injuries to any of the apartment tenants though one declined treatment for smoke inhalation, said Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi. No firefighters were hurt.

Officials statewide are developing strategies aimed at cutting all annual traffic fatalities in half by 2030, the leader of the Nevada Department of Transportation says.

The Carson City Sheriff's Office will maintain a highly visible presence on the city's roadways during the New Year holiday, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28 and ends at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2.

Sheriff's deputies will be out in force during this time period and will conduct saturation patrols to detect, arrest and prosecute impaired drivers to the fullest extent of the law.

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.

Kids have a greater chance of being fatally injured by a car on Halloween than any other day of the year, including the Fourth of July and New Year’s Day. State Farm®, the nation’s leading auto insurer, teamed up with research expert, Bert Sperling of Sperling’s BestPlaces, to better understand the risk kids face as they take to the streets in search of treats. Sperling’s BestPlaces analyzed more than four million records in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 1990 – 2010 for children 0-18 years of age on October 31.

Carson City Sheriff's Office and the Nevada Highway Patrol have teamed up, along with other Northern Nevada law enforcement agencies, in an effort to beef up DUI enforcement now through Nov. 9.

During this two-week time frame, agencies will be step up patrol in the Carson City and Reno/Sparks areas, focusing efforts on identifying impaired drivers. The program is funded by the Office of Traffic Safety and is one of many campaigns that are conducted throughout the year to help reduce accidents and fatalities in northern Nevada.

The Nevada Highway Patrol reports investigating 65 crashes associated with the 2012 Street Vibration motorcycle rally which had riders attending events between Reno, Carson City, Virginia City and Lake Tahoe.
There were no fatalities associated with the annual motorcycle rally, according to NHP. Reno police however, were investigating a Sunday morning fatal crash on Plumb Lane.

The Nevada Highway Patrol has released more information into two deadly vehicle accidents this weekend that resulted in four fatalities on Highway 395 in Douglas County. The accidents happened within a few hours of each other. The first accident, in which three people died, was reported at 11:45 p.m. Saturday night near Leviathan Mine Road on Highway 395.