Road death toll rises sharply

Thursday, April 1, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

The number of traffic fatalities in Nevada rose 25.7 percent between 1988 and 1997, while the number of fatal crashes decreased 11.4 percent nationwide, a report released this week by the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety shows.

The report says that in those nine years, 3,054 people were killed on Nevada highways, with 2,291 of them occupants of vehicles, 506 pedestrians, 200 motorcyclists and 57 bicyclists.

And Nevada drivers cannot point the finger at tourists. The report shows that between 1995 and 1997, Nevadans were responsible for more than 69 percent of the motor vehicle fatalities. Nonresident drivers were responsible for only 29 percent.

The report was released the day after a bicyclist was struck by a van and killed on Arville Street near Harmon Avenue.

Metro Police investigators said the 39-year-old Las Vegas man, who was not identified until relatives could be notified, was traveling north on his bicycle on Arville Street about 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday when he stopped in the center left turn lane.

Michael Miller, 40, of Las Vegas, was driving a 1993 Chevrolet van north, failed to see the man on the bicycle and struck him, police said.

No charges have been filed pending the outcome of an investigation, police said.

But the death illustrated one of the trends noted in the report. From 1995 through 1997, more fatal crashes occurred between 3 and 5:59 p.m. than any other time, the DMV found. Sunday was the deadliest day.

One of the most disturbing trends, said Joanne M. Keller, highway safety coordinator, was the number of fatal crashes involving alcohol.

"Since 1994, over 40 percent of all fatal crashes and fatalities in Nevada have been alcohol-related," she said.

Statewide between 1995 and 1997, there were 372 alcohol-involved fatal crashes resulting in the death of 409 people, the report says.

Clark County had the second-worst record on that count, with 41 percent of all fatal crashes in those years alcohol-related, behind only Douglas County.

That amounted to 220 alcohol-related fatal crashes in Clark County in three years, resulting in 245 deaths.

Equally disturbing, Keller said, is the failure to use safety belts.

"In 1997, restraint use was 55.29 percent," she said, noting that 38.9 percent of the time occupants of vehicles died, they weren't wearing safety belts.

The counties with the most fatalities between 1995 and 1997 include Clark, Washoe, Elko, Pershing and Churchill.

Staff writer Art Nadler contributed to this report.