A look at pedestrian deaths in Carson City since 2013

John Randy Boggs had lived in Carson City for 20 years before he was hit by a car in front of Mills Park. The 46-year-old owner of Randy Boggs Construction was trying to cross from the north side of East William Street in the predawn light of Feb. 8, 2013.

A witness told police Boggs was in the east-bound lane when a Toyota 4Runner struck him and carried him on the hood of the vehicle 40 yards before he fell off. The driver fled the scene only to be arrested years later and sentenced to prison. Boggs had enjoyed fishing, golfing, cooking and watching sports, according to his obituary.

A little more than a month passed before another hit-and-run claimed the life of Celeste Santens. On St. Patrick’s Day of 2013, an hour before midnight, Santens attempted to cross Highway 50 east of Airport Road when she was struck by a Ford SUV in the east-bound lane. She was not in a crosswalk when she was hit, according to investigators, but the driver fled the scene and was arrested in Dayton shortly after the crash. Santens, a resident of Carson City, was 27 years old at the time. “Baby, I don’t know I miss you bad today,” reads a message on an online memorial. The message was posted in 2020.

In 2016, four pedestrians were fatally struck by cars in the capital city: Gustova Garcia-Valdes, Lillian Joslin, Milissa Victorino and Gail Williams. Joslin, 86, and Victorino, 46, were both in crosswalks.

In the following years, pedestrian deaths didn’t stop. Some incidents made headlines around the state. Other crashes fell to obscurity, the faintest sketch of what happened gleaned from news releases. On Jan. 28 of this year, 14-year-old Lexi Rodriguez was killed at the intersection of North Carson Street and Nye Lane. Her death galvanized family and friends to speak up and bring their grief and concerns to city meetings, illuminating a problem that has not gone away. Between 2013 and the present, 19 pedestrians have been killed on Carson City streets, the Appeal found in a months-long investigation.

Making public records requests for some information, the Appeal’s investigation didn’t differentiate between those killed in crosswalks and those killed outside of crosswalks, nor did the Appeal specify whether the pedestrians died on scene or later in the hospital. What the results show, said Anita Pepper, public information officer for the Nevada Office of Traffic Safety, is pedestrian fatalities are not declining.

“Our goal is for Zero Fatalities on the road, so any fatality is too high,” Pepper said. “While we haven’t seen a significant deviation in the last 5 years for Carson City, we are aware that the numbers aren’t going down and we’ve already had two pedestrian fatalities in the Carson City and surrounding area in the first months of 2024, which is troubling.”0

The Office of Traffic Safety, a division of the Nevada Department of Public Safety, collects traffic crash reports monthly from law enforcement agencies throughout the state, Pepper said.

“We share these reports with NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) who uses this information to compile FARS (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) that is a nationwide census that provides NHTSA, Congress and the public yearly statistical data regarding fatal injuries suffered in motor vehicle traffic crashes,” Pepper said.

The FARS data is typically finalized 18 to 24 months after the year ends, Pepper said, meaning crash data for 2023 and 2024 is still preliminary.

While pedestrian deaths tend to be higher in urban areas, Pepper said, “we recognize that communities, like Carson City and the surrounding areas, that are experiencing increased growth will want to take into consideration the health and safety of its community members on the roadways.”

While Carson City is more comparable to Douglas or Lyon counties in terms of population, the city is condensed in a smaller urban area, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong pointed out during the course of the Appeal’s investigation. Compared to the 19 pedestrian deaths in Carson in the last decade, Lyon County experienced 11 pedestrian fatalities in the same time period, and Douglas County — which has the casino corridor in Stateline — experienced six, according to the Office of Traffic Safety.

While still troubling, Carson pedestrian deaths are significantly lower than those in Washoe or Clark counties. Three pedestrians died in Carson crashes in 2022, and two died in 2023. In Washoe County, 13 pedestrians died in 2022, and 18 died in 2023. In Clark County, there were 63 such deaths in 2022 and 82 in 2023, according to figures provided by the Office of Traffic Safety.

Pepper said the state’s Zero Fatalities program was introduced in 2011 through the departments of public safety and transportation. The public campaign focused on impaired driving, intersection safety, occupant protection and pedestrian safety and evolved over the last decade.

“The goal is to get to zero traffic related fatalities by 2050,” said Pepper. “We believe this is a realistic goal because when you think of your friends and family you want them to travel safely when they are out on the road as a driver, passenger, or vulnerable road user. Our focus is to educate the public on road safety, while working to prioritize effective countermeasures to reduce injuries and death from crashes on Nevada’s roads to get to Zero Fatalities.

“We also get to Zero Fatalities by being responsible when we’re on the road and not driving impaired, following the speed limit, and slowing down in inclement weather, not driving distracted and by everyone in the car wearing a seat belt.”

Amy Davey, highway safety director for the Nevada Department of Public Safety, has lived in Carson City for more than 50 years.

“While our office works with programs and partners across the state to eliminate fatal and serious injury road crashes, as a 50-plus year resident of Carson City I am particularly aware of how important safety is to our growing community,” she said. “Transportation is an everyday fact of life and should not be a dangerous part of our day.”

Davey said local agencies, community organizations and law enforcement are working together to keep Carson and surrounding communities “safe and accessible to all citizens and visitors and we can support our community by slowing down, accommodating one another, and giving our full attention to the road and all road users.”

While positive about community cooperation, Davey was skeptical of fatalistic attitudes that crashes are inevitable. She wondered if the perceived inconvenience of traffic safety measures — like roundabouts or lowered speed limits — is worth a life. She told the Appeal she wants a call to action.
“Crashes are not accidents,” she said. “Crash causes have patterns. When something has a pattern you can predict it, and if you can predict it, you can prevent it.”

On March 13, Lexi Rodriguez’s mother, Katherine Rodriguez, spoke during the CAMPO meeting in Carson City, requesting a lower speed limit where her daughter was killed. The speed limit at Nye and North Carson is 45 mph. Rodriguez said it’s important to teach children crosswalk safety but still had concerns about the area.
“Just because our kids are in a crosswalk doesn’t mean they’re safe … it doesn’t mean they’re going to make it to the other side,” she said.

CAMPO, or the Carson Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, oversees transportation issues in Carson, northern Douglas County and western Lyon County. The organization meets the second Wednesday of every month at 4:30 p.m. in the board room of the Carson City Community Center, just west of Mills Park.

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Infographic: Here's a look at pedestrian deaths in Carson City, since 2013.