Rain a factor in crashes

Eric Leake and Stephen Curran

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.

A 23-year-old man died Tuesday night after he crashed his car into another while drag racing on the city's rain-slicked streets, Metro Police said.

It was one of two collisions that occurred about the same time, with the rain a factor in both, police said.

Metro Sgt. Tracy McDonald said the man who died was in a race from Buffalo Drive east along Desert Inn Road shortly after 10 p.m.

When the two racing cars came upon a slower one, they split to pass it on both sides, McDonald said, with the one driver passing on the inside lane. He lost control of his speeding Nissan on the wet road and veered into oncoming traffic.

The Nissan, the year and model for which were rendered unrecognizable by the crash, collided with the front end of a 1993 Ford Thunderbird just past Tenaya Way. The driver of the Nissan was not wearing a seat bealt and was ejected from his car onto the street where he was hit by a Ford Escort. "It was very wet, had just finished raining in this area when the accident occurred," McDonald said. "Extremely careless driving combined with bad weather and no safety belt -- this is the result."

The driver of the Thunderbird also was not wearing a seat belt and suffered severe to critical injuries and was taken to University Medical Center, McDonald said.

The 21-year-old driver of the second speeding car, a 2004 Honda Civic, returned to the accident site and could face charges, McDonald said. The speed of the cars had not been determined this morning.

The posted speed limit on that stretch of Desert Inn Road is 45 mph, he said.

The names of the drivers involved had not been released by police this morning.

Meanwhile two North Las Vegas men were arrested at Washington Avenue and Virgil after the 1996 Saturn they are believed to have stolen slammed into a block wall as they pair tried to evade police.

Landeros Gilberto, 26, and Jose Ruano, 18, were taken to University Medical Center after the crash. They swerved into the wall after officers laid spike strips to stop the stolen car, he said.

Gilberto remained in moderate condition this morning and Ruano in serious.