Nevada Highway Patrol reports uptick in wrong-way drivers

The Nevada Highway Patrol is reporting an increase in wrong-way drivers this year, and the agency has tips to help motorists in those situations.

Since Jan. 1, troopers in the state’s Southern Command have responded to 139 calls involving a wrong-way driver, compared with 128 calls by this time last year, according to a statement Wednesday from the Highway Patrol.

“The vast majority of wrong way drivers have been found to be impaired,” the Highway Patrol said. “According to Nevada Office of Traffic Safety data, 90% of the wrong way fatal crashes that occurred in 2019 involved an impaired driver.”

Troopers advise motorists to slow down, drive defensively and avoid the fast lane at night, saying “many fatal wrong way crashes occur in the far-left travel lane.”

If drivers see someone going the wrong way on the highway, they are advised to call *NHP.

Five people were hospitalized March 13 following a wrong-way crash near the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after a white sedan was traveling south in the northbound lanes struck a silver sedan with four people inside, the Review-Journal previously reported.

Highway Patrol spokesman Travis Smaka called it “a very violent crash” at the time.

In February, two people were killed after a 2004 Toyota Tacoma was traveling north in the southbound lanes near Moapa when it collided head-on with a 2017 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, killing both drivers.

Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.