State's traffic deaths on rise

CARSON CITY -- The number of traffic crash deaths in Nevada was nearly 14 percent higher during the first half of 1996 than in the same period last year, state officials say.

The state Highway Safety Office said Wednesday that 167 people died on the roadways by the end of June, compared with 147 halfway through 1995.

Paul Corbin, the state's traffic safety coordinator, said April was the highest fatality month so far this year, with 39. February was the lowest with 24.

Corbin also said pedestrian deaths are down 21 percent from the same period last year, 30 compared with 38.

He said alcohol was the No. 1 factor involved in 1996 fatal crashes, followed by failure to stay on the road, speed, inattentiveness, and failure to heed traffic control devices.

"At the present rate, a death occurs on our public roadways once every 26 hours," he said.

Gordon Absher, spokesman for the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, said it's difficult to pinpoint the impact of Nevada's higher speed limit on the crash deaths.

Nevada's speed limits on much of Interstate 80 in Northern Nevada and parts of I-15 in Southern Nevada were raised in December to as high as 75 mph.

Absher said more analysis, by his agency and by the state Department of Transportation, is needed to see how the higher limits might have figured in the increase.

"The numbers of crash deaths go up almost every year," he said. "With the massive growth in our state, you're going to have more accidents. You can't make a de facto assumption that speed is the reason."

He also noted that alcohol is the leading factor, which shows that it continues to be "a huge problem."

"We feel very strongly that when someone drinks and drives and gets into a crash, that's not really an accident," he said. "Those drivers are making a choice. They're really causing the crash."

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