We can never emphasize enough the need to be careful out on the road! 96 fatalities this year, about half of them pedestrians.
Metro Police are calling the fact that more and more people continue to die on valley roads an alarming trend.
A total of 96 people have lost their lives on the roads this year, and according to Metro, almost half of the deaths are pedestrians. That’s almost a 13 percent spike compared to this time last year.
Police markings on the street near Nellis Boulevard and Vegas valley represent the third road fatality in Metro’s jurisdiction in as little as three days. A woman with a walker was killed in a hit-and-run crash Monday morning while crossing the street.
At the intersection of Spring Mountain and Polaris, memorial marks where two people were killed in a DUI crash over the weekend.
“It’s ridiculous how people are really getting hurt,” said Lisa Jones, pedestrian. “I just don’t understand the drivers here.”
Road deaths in all of Clark County are down almost 8 percent, but they’re up in Metro’s jurisdiction. Compare the 96 people lost this year to the 85 lost in 2016.
As of Monday, 43 of that 96 were pedestrians.
“I almost got hit so many times, Jones said. “I said I was going to carry a bag of rocks because if people don’t stop, I bet you you’ll stop if I hit your car with a rock.”
Mark Grady has a different idea for cracking down on reckless drivers.
“Jack the prices up on the ticket and take these people’s license away,” Grady said.
However, Metro Police says pedestrians have been at fault for about 60 percent of this year’s collisions.
“They’re out in the roadway where motorists wouldn’t expect them to be jaywalking or crossing at some place other than a normal crossing,” said Sgt. Robert Stauffer, Metro’s fatal detail division.
Sergeant Stauffer says the agency is concerned about the coming months, also known as darker days because it starts to get dark earlier.
“Darkness is something that tends to hide those guys when they’re crossing the street,” said Stauffer.
According to Stauffer, road fatalities typically increase heading into the holiday. The last thing he was hoping for since 2016 has already proven to be more deadly compared to recent years.
“Since I’ve been living here, that’s all that’s been going on, Jones said. “That’s all I see.”
“Like, when does it stop,” Grady asked?
Last year, 218 people died on Clark County roads. Of those fatalities, 123 occurred in Metro’s jurisdiction. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the largest law enforcement agency in the state.