Three years ago, Nicole Snyder was killed on Highway 395 near Genoa Lane when a driver in the opposite lanes lost control of her car and was launched into the air by the median.
The ditch that serves as a median for most of the length of the highway between Minden and Indian Hills came along with the highway expansion when it was built in the mid-'80s.
In the intervening years, at least two fatalities have resulted after a vehicle entered the median at a high rate of speed and was launched at oncoming cars.
Not long after Snyder's incident, we joined the call for a barrier between the lanes of Highway 395 to prevent this sort of accident.
Next month, the Nevada Department of Transportation will begin work to install a means that will prevent cars from crossing into the oncoming lanes on the highway.
The cable barrier will cost $1.6 million, and should prevent cars that enter the median from crossing to the other side and killing innocent motorists.
The barrier is a safety measure that will prevent some accidents, but motorists along Highway 395 must remember that due care will do far more good than any traffic device.
- This editorial appeared in
The Record-Courier