Wrong-way driver stopped on Las Vegas Boulevard

Troopers stopped a wrong-way driver on Las Vegas Boulevard near the M Resort on New Year’s Eve, according to a tweet by the Nevada Highway Patrol.

The tweet, posted shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, read, “In case you thought we were joking. This was just a few minutes ago on Las Vegas Blvd near the M Resort. A wrong way driver. Please be extremely careful tonight if you have to travel, and do so responsibly. #drivesafenv #drivesober #nhpsocomm”

The tweet was accompanied by a video clip of a car pulling over to the right shoulder, followed by a patrol car.

NHP also reported taking in 4 DUI drivers and stopping a number of cars for excessive speed earlier in the night.

In 2019, the Highway Patrol was dispatched to 434 calls for wrong-way drivers in Southern Nevada, trooper Jason Buratczuk said in an email shortly after midnight. In 2018, the number was 443.

Two people were killed in a wrong-way crash on Interstate 15 south of Las Vegas on Dec. 5. A 39-year-old Henderson man died in a wrong-way crash on the same highway two days earlier, on Dec. 3.

A 75-year-old woman was critically injured in Henderson on Nov. 22 in a two-vehicle crash in which impairment was suspected. On Nov. 14, a drunken driving suspect traveling the wrong way on I-15 was killed in a multivehicle crash.

The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada is offering free rides on all 39 fixed transit routes from 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve until 9 a.m. on New Year’s Day.