LV ranks high on list of areas with deaths from road rage

Tuesday, March 9, 1999 | 11:24 a.m.

Las Vegas is among the 10 worst metropolitan areas in traffic deaths caused by road rage, says a group that advocates more widespread use of public transportation.

The Surface Transportation Policy Project, backed by 200 environmental groups, released its study Monday showing the Las Vegas area with the sixth worst rate among the nation's metropolitan areas.

At 8.1 traffic deaths related to road rage per 100,000 people in 1996, Las Vegas was far behind No. 1, Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif., with a rate of 13.4.

The study identified road rage deaths as those caused by aggressive driving, not homicide by angry motorists.

It also said statistically the deaths were more likely to occur in areas with low public transit use where few people walk or ride bikes to work.

"Communities with more miles of highway per resident and high amounts of driving per person have a higher rate of aggressive driving deaths," the study said.

Kurt Weinrich, director of the Clark County Regional Transportation Commission, was skeptical about the report.

"You have to be more statistically rigorous than that group seems to have been," he said, pointing out that the organization seemed to be using road rage statistics as a reason to control land use patterns.

A lot of factors lead to accidents, Weinrich said.

"You have to look at the full range of those factors," he said.

Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Scott Flabi had not seen the report but agreed that road rage may be an important factor in traffic fatalities.