Traffic Safety

Deputies of the Douglas County and Lyon County Sheriff’s Offices have increased traffic enforcement patrols on various highways and roadways within the two counties. The added patrol began Monday and runs through Feb. 22.

The increased patrols will specifically target distracted drivers, motorists using their cell phones and those speeding, said Douglas County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Pat Brooks.

The Nevada Highway Patrol's preliminary enforcement activity numbers for New Year’s Eve, which were captured between 7:00 pm last evening through 5:00 am this morning, appear to be slightly lower than those reported by our agency one year ago.

Several northern Nevada law enforcement agencies will be teaming up and “joining forces” by staffing a DUI checkpoint in Reno this weekend.

On Saturday afternoon and evening, law enforcement personnel from the Reno and Sparks Police Departments, UNR Police Services, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, and Nevada Highway Patrol will be conducting the administrative road block.

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.

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.

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 Nevada Highway Patrol will be stepping up enforcement efforts on US 50 effective today through August 12, 2013. These efforts will emphasize on stopping and citing motorists who exceed the posted speed limit; in addition to the speed enforcement campaign, troopers will be looking closely at other traffic violations such as reckless or aggressive driving, Driving Under the Influence, following too closely, talking or texting on a hand-held cell phone and lane change violations.

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.

Several northern Nevada law enforcement agencies will be teaming up and “Joining Forces” this Independence Day as an additional security measure in providing for a safe holiday weekend.

On Thursday afternoon and evening, police officers from the Reno and Sparks Police Departments, deputies from the Washoe and Lyon County Sheriff’s Offices, and troopers from the Nevada Highway Patrol will be conducting the administrative road block on US Highway 50 in Douglas County.

Fourteen vehicles were involved in a crash Wednesday morning on southbound Highway 395 between McCarran and Oddie Boulevard in Reno, the Nevada Highway Patrol reports. One person was injured.

The crash happened at 6:43 a.m. and caused traffic delays. According to NHP Trooper Chuck Allen, the chain of events began when five vehicles were involved in a collision in the left lane of the south bound travel lanes.

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.

April is National Distracted Driving Month and the Nevada Highway Patrol will be implementing a zero-tolerance enforcement period next week, April 22-26, as a strict traffic safety initiative to hopefully curtail the use of hand-held phones while motorists are driving. Troopers around the Silver State are still continuing to observe motorists texting, talking, and reading non-voice communications despite the fact this behavior became illegal over 15 months ago.

Law enforcement agencies in Carson City and across Northern Nevada will team up Super Bowl Sunday and increase the number of patrol officers roads and highways looking for impaired motorists.

With a federally funded “joining forces” grant secured by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, additional law enforcement personnel from the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Nevada Highway Patrol, and the Reno and Sparks police departments will be on overtime shifts saturating the region Sunday afternoon and evening looking for motorists who may be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

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.

With the December holiday season upon us and the upcoming New Year just around the corner, numerous holiday parties and other work and family-related get-togethers will be celebrated and they often involve the consumption of alcohol. In an effort to identify those impaired drivers who may get behind the wheel after consuming too much alcohol, additional NHP Troopers, as well as a multi-agency DUI checkpoint, are being scheduled this month.

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 Center for Research Design and Analysis was contracted by the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety to conduct a telephone survey about Nevadans' driving behavior and attitudes. The objectives of this survey included gathering behavioral self-reported and opinion data on key safety issues, such as impaired driving, safety belts, speeding, and distracted driving. The OTS also was interested in examining the effect that a "Click it or Ticket" (CIOT) campaign had on respondents' answers to safety belt questions. The CIOT campaign ran from May 21, 2012 through June 3, 2012.

The Carson City Sheriff's Office has stepped up its efforts to get intoxicated drivers off the road. Beginning Thursday through Sept. 5, patrol officers will be out in full force as part of a citywide crackdown on drunk driving. Saturation patrols, as they are called, aim to identify, stop and remove drunk and impaired drivers, said Carson City Sheriff's Sgt. Darrin Sloan in a news release.

The Nevada Highway Patrol, along with the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, Sparks Police Department, and the Carson City Sheriff’s Office are planning a sobriety check point at Lake Tahoe for the Fourth of July holiday.
The check point will be held in Incline Village and is being funded by a Joining Forces grant from the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety.
Due to the fireworks display and other special events planned at Lake Tahoe, a large increase in both vehicular and pedestrian traffic expected during the holiday, said NHP Sgt. Scott Farmer.

The Nevada Departments of Transportation and Public Safety, Washoe County Sheriff’s Office and Reno Police are reminding motorists that handheld cellphone use while driving is illegal.

CARSON CITY – It probably comes as no surprise to many Nevada motorists that the state is ranked in the Top 10 as one of the most dangerous in which to drive.

Nevada rounded out the top 10 states for dangerous driving with 1.56 fatalities for every 100 million miles driven, according to the report by carinsurancecomparison.com.

CARSON CITY, Nev. – The Nevada Departments of Public Safety and Transportation are reminding motorists to always drive safely after Nevada traffic fatalities rose by nearly a third in the first three months of 2012 compared to the same time last year.

Preliminary numbers show that 57 traffic fatalities occurred on Nevada roads in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 11 deaths over the same time last year.

Nevada traffic fatalities dropped in 2011 to 243.

Preliminary numbers show that 243 fatalities occurred on Nevada roads in 2011. This compares to 257 Nevada traffic deaths in 2010.

The reduced fatalities follow a general trend of traffic deaths dropping from an all-time high of 432 in 2006 to 243 in 2011.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has approved Nevada's 2012 highway safety plan, citing several improvements in the state's safety record - including the fact that 94.1 percent of...

Governor Brian Sandoval, the Nevada Departments of Public Safety and Transportation and other traffic safety partners held an event in Carson City to remind drivers that handheld cellphone use while driving is prohibited in the state as of Oct. 1.

As of Oct. 1, law enforcement is giving motorists a warning for driving while talking, typing or reading on a handheld cellphone or similar device. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, fines of up to $250, depending on the number of offenses, will be imposed for any driver using a handheld phone or device to talk, type or read.

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office is will be out in full force through Labor Day looking out for drunk drivers.

Each year nearly 11,000 people die on the road due to drunk driving. Every day alcohol related accidents contribute to 1,440 injuries and 29 deaths.

Drunk driving is simply not worth the risk. Not only do you risk killing yourself or some one else, but the trauma and financial costs of a crash or an arrest for impaired driving can be significant.

Overtime for this event is paid for by the Office of Traffic Safety, Department of Public Safety.

By NHP Trooper Chuck Allen
As part of the 2011 Labor Day DUI awareness, education, and enforcement campaign labeled “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”, several law enforcement agencies are beefing up patrols around the state.

By Jake Sunderland
CARSON CITY, Nev. – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Traffic Safety Facts report, during 2009, more than 5.5 million motor vehicle crashes were reported to police across the U.S. If you were in an accident, would you know what information to get for an insurance claim? The Nevada Division of insurance offers these easy to follow tips to get the necessary information following a crash.

Be Prepared