Traffic deaths mount on I-15

Tuesday, June 29, 1999 | 11:38 a.m.

At least 57 people have died along the congested Interstate 15 corridor from Las Vegas to Barstow, Calif., this year, including seven who perished in a fiery weekend crash north of Primm, highway officials said.

State figures show an average of 15 people die each year in wrecks along the 43-mile swath between Las Vegas and the California border, Bob McKenzie, Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman, said.

At least 15 people have been killed along the Nevada stretch so far this year, 13 of whom died in the past eight days.

The death toll along California's stretch of I-15 from the Nevada line to Barstow typically is higher. California Highway Patrol officials couldn't pull exact figures but estimated about 60 motorists died in wrecks last year.

They say 42 have died so far this year.

"It's people wanting to go to a certain place at a certain time," McKenzie said.

And that certain time is happening more often than just on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons, when the backups caused by Las Vegas-loving Californians turn a 4 1/2-hour trip into an eight-hour, motorized death march.

"Now it's pretty concentrated and high traffic all of the time. People tend to get impatient," Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper and spokesman Scott Flabi said.

Flabi on Monday blamed excessive speed and inattention on the part of motorists for the van-car crash late Sunday that claimed the lives of all seven of the people involved, all Californians.

A large portion of the people killed in wrecks along Nevada's section are California residents, which is disturbing, California Highway Patrol Officer Willie Hailey said.

Hailey plans to ask owners of Las Vegas' larger casinos for permission to post public service safety messages from the California Highway Patrol, reminding Golden State gamblers to get some rest before hitting the road home.

"Most of the people dying on your highway are from California," Hailey said. "We've had 42 since January. That's high. We've got to do something about it."

No one knows why the driver of the car that caused Sunday's accident lost control and crossed the median. But as many as a third of the single-car rollovers between here and California happen because motorists fall asleep, Flabi said. California highway officials say it's more like 50 percent on their end.

McKenzie said it's bound to happen, with the typical weekend visitor's itinerary.

"They'll stay downtown and party all night and stay into (Sunday) afternoon. Then they fall asleep" behind the wheel, he said.

State transportation officials already have started a $100 million project that eventually will extend a third traffic lane for trucks all the way to Jean, McKenzie said. But the real solutions lay at the hands of motorists, who need to pay attention, stop when they are tired, avoid the section's peak travel times and slow down, officials said.

A 1997 study conducted by state transportation officials showed that interstate drivers cruised an average of 2 to 4 mph over the speed limit.