Nevada roadway deaths increase in rural areas

Nevada has seen about the same number of traffic-related deaths so far this year compared to 2013, but statistics show a marked increase on rural roadways.

Overall, fatalities decreased slightly from 157 to 153 this year. But rural Elko, Eureka, Lander and Lyon counties each saw a 100 percent or more increase over the previous year, the state’s office of traffic safety stats show.

Elko County traffic deaths increased by 350 percent, the statistics show. Nine people died during the first seven months this year compared to just two last year.

Eureka and Lander each saw an increase from zero to three deaths, and Lyon from three to six.

State agencies track the fluctuating statistics but acknowledge that they are more than numbers.

“Every traffic death is a tragedy, because it’s someone’s family that’s involved when somebody dies,” Elko NHP trooper Jim Stewart said.

One that affected at least two famillies happened May 27 in Elko County.

A Ford Expedition carrying four people was hit broadside while turning left at an intersection by a Ford Focus on State Route 227 in Spring Creek, NHP said. The Expedition overturned and knocked down a light pole.

The two people in the Focus and two people in the SUV died, NHP said. The driver of the Focus is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol, Stewart said.

Derick Jay Rimington, 19, was one of the passengers in the SUV and was not wearing a seat belt, according to NHP. He and his cousin, Hailey Rae Layton, 5, died from injuries.

“Soon we will be able to look upon this and use this as a growing expireance (sic). We may have lost two precious kids, but heaven gained two angels,” Rick Rimington, Derick’s father, said on Facebook in June.

Rick Rimington, who was not involved in the crash, declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meg Ragonese, from the Nevada Department of Transportation, said that the increase can not be attributed to a trend since crashes are evaluated individually, but that crashes could be avoided by more alert and cautious driving.

Authorities started adding preventive measures beginning in 2006, Ragonese said.

Nevada equipped its highways with about 3,000 miles of rumble strips, which make vehicles vibrate when they abandon their lanes, Ragonese said.

Also, NDOT launched an educational campaign that alerts drivers of seat-belt safety, the dangers of impaired driving and pedestrian safety.

A death increase on rural roadways could be due to the long stretches of highway between stops, NHP trooper Dave Gibson said. He added that most head-on collisions happen due to speed, distracted drivers on their phones or people who drink and drive.

Gibson recommends drivers implement “defensive and offensive driving.” Drivers must be defensive while watching others’ driving habits, Gibson said, noting that drivers must also be offensive and cautious of their own habits.

Drunk and distracted drivers are “always going to bet out there,” Gibson said. He noted that authorities do their best in getting accident-prevention information out to the public.

These aggressive educational efforts on wearing seat-belts, distracted driving and drunk driving prevention have contributed to an overall decrease of fatalities, Stewart said.

Nationally, the past two decades have seen a decrease in road deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In 1994, about 23 in each 100,000 people died in traffic-related incidents, about 16 in 100,000 in 2012.

Nevada’s 153 road deaths this year through Friday include 73 in vehicles, 36 pedestrians, 34 motorcyclists, six scooter riders and four cyclists killed, data shows.

Traffic fatalities in Clark County are down from 114 in 2013 to about 93 so far this year. Washoe County went from 11 to 25 this year. Fatalities in Nevada totaled 267 in 2013, traffic safety stats show.

For more information on the state’s safer roads campaign, visit www.zerofatalitiesnv.com.

Contact Ricardo Torres at rtorres@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0381. Find him on Twitter: @rickytwrites.