Thursday, June 16, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.
Nevada motorists are among the nation's most likely to die in a speeding-related crash, according to a Transportation Department study released this week.
According to the study, compiled by the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, roughly 40 percent of Silver State residents who died on the state's roads between 1983 and 2002 were killed as a result of speeding. That makes Nevada the 10th worst state when it comes to people in vehicles dying from speeding-related traffic collisions, the federal study noted.
Of the top 10 states, five were west of the Mississippi River, where experts say a lead foot can be an unfortunate by-product of the famed wide open spaces.
South Carolina, with almost 50 percent of its fatal crashes resulting from speeding, ranked highest. New Jersey, with roughly 15 percent, was lowest.
In 2002, the most recent year for which numbers were available, 148 of the total 381 Nevadans who died on the roads were killed in speeding-related crashes, the study noted. That puts Nevada below California and Arizona, which ranked seventh and eighth respectively, but leaves the Silver State as more dangerous than Texas, New York and Massachusetts.
Of those fatalities, most occurred on curving roads and almost half were alcohol-related, researchers found.
"That's exactly what I was going to say," Metro Sgt. Tracy McDonald said when told of the findings in the report. "Speed is probably involved in more than 30 percent of our fatals. That'd be pretty darn close."
With 78 fatalities in 59 separate crashes so far this year, Metro is set to outpace last year's 145 fatalities and almost double the 91 people who died in 2000, department statistics show.
The Nevada Highway Patrol, meanwhile, has seen a slight drop in the number of total fatalities in Southern Nevada, Trooper Angie Chavera, a department spokeswoman, said. So far this year, 37 people have died on roads here, about 18 fewer than this time in 2004, when a total 114 people died, she said.
Of last year's 99 total fatal wrecks, speed was a definitive cause in 17, she said, although that figure fails to take into account crashes where speed was a contributing factor but not a cause, which she estimated could surpass the one-third mark.
This year, speed directly caused five of the 34 total, Chavera said. She added that the federal government's findings were not surprising given that drivers on area highways routinely travel at speeds exceeding 100 mph.
"Metro may see speed-related crashes from street racing but they don't see the kind of speed we see," Chavera said.
Those speeds make the heavily traveled stretch of I-15 from Las Vegas to the California state line a particularly dangerous one, she said.
"You leave Las Vegas and go to California and it's these long stretches of road," Chavera said. "People just think they have this long stretch. You always see at least one (fatal crash) on I-15."
This morning it was too soon to say if speed was a factor in Wednesday's wreck that killed 81-year-old Alfred Gomez as he crossed in his motorized wheelchair the corner of Flamingo and Mojave roads, Metro's most recent fatality, McDonald said. But in general more "careful and prudent driving" across the board is definitely needed to reduce the number of traffic deaths, he said.
"I think what the problem is is driver attitude," McDonald said. "Ninety percent of the public is doing the speed limit and doing a reasonable speed. It's those 10 percent who are reckless and arrogant and not exercising due care (that cause problems).
"We're real concerned that we're already at 78 and we're not at half the year, so to speak. We're concerned not just that we're going to break last year's record but that we're going to do it by 10 to 15 fatalities."
With drivers regularly exceeding the speed limit by 10 to 15 mph, it puts everyday motorists such as Roberta Meeks at risk.
As a dispatcher for American Auto Towing, 10177 West Charleston Blvd., Meeks sees the dangers of driving in Southern Nevada from two perspectives: as a commuter on her way to work and in her role sending drivers to the scenes of bloody crashes.
It was difficult for Meeks to pinpoint how of the 70 to 90 damaged vehicles she deals with in a typical shift were damaged in speeding-related collisions but she was surprised that Nevada's ranking wasn't even higher in the study.
"I see a lot of speeding, people just waiting to get into an accident," she said. "I would say I thought it'd be higher because everybody's always in a hurry to get somewhere."
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