Friday, April 3, 1998 | 10:43 a.m.
If your vehicle is going to break down, be sure it happens on U.S. 95 Monday through Friday between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. or on Saturday between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
That's when the Freeway Service Patrol, sponsored by the Nevada Department of Transportation, will be out looking for motorists in distress.
The service, free to all motorists regardless of where they are from, begins Monday.
Five patrol vans have been purchased for the project which will cost the state $633,000 annually. Two will be on the road at a time, each traveling in opposite directions.
NDOT has awarded a three-year contract to Samaritania Inc. to provide the service, which will be available along U.S. 95 between Tropicana Avenue on the southeast side and Craig Road on the northwest side of the freeway.
The primary concentration of the patrol will be between the Spaghetti Bowl and Summerlin Parkway, which has reduced or no freeway shoulders, said an NDOT spokesman.
The patrols will be made by a vans equipped with spare auto parts, gasoline and diesel fuel, other motor fluids and water, first-aid kits and oxygen for medical emergencies and miscellaneous road service-related items.
"The objective is to get them moving within 15 minutes after we find them," said NDOT spokesman Jeanne Corcoran.
The patrols will clear debris from the roadway and communicate emergency situations to the appropriate agencies as well as help motorists.
According to NDOT this type of service is available in many metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles, which spends $25 million annually and has 140 vehicles.
The vans in Las Vegas will be equipped with global position systems to track their location.
During off-peak hours patrols may be used for limited coverage on Interstate 15, according to NDOT.
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