Road rage suspected in fatal crash

A frustrated, impatient driver is at least partially responsible for a man's death on Interstate 15 near Jean Thursday evening, a Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman said.

Two tractor-trailers were traveling northbound side by side in the east and west lanes of I-15 at about 50 mph when "a couple of cars passed the trucks on the right shoulder," Flabi said.

"Witnesses said that they were a maroon Crown Victoria and a black Lexus," Flabi said. "The driver of the Lexus, who we think is a woman, wanted to take out some of her anger at being forced to wait behind the trucks, so when she got in front of them she slammed on her breaks a couple of times."

When the driver of the Lexus hit her breaks, one of the truck drivers hit his causing the truck's trailer to go into a jackknife motion that struck a man on a motorcycle attempting to pass the trucks by driving between them, Flabi said.

The man and the motorcycle, which had a California license, got caught under the wheels of the truck and were dragged several hundred feet. The man was pronounced dead at the scene.

archive