Focus on Nevada’s Hwy 50

The crackdown has begun on U.S. Highway 50 between Carson City and Leeteville Junction west of Fallon.

The Nevada Highway Patrol — along with the sheriff departments from Lyon and Churchill counties and Carson City and the Nevada Department of Transportation — have stepped up their patrols on this dangerous stretch of highway to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities.

Highway 50 has endured more than its share of fatalities during the past two years. Residents from Carson City to Fallon have lost their lives on Highway 50, either the result of their own actions or the actions of others. The statistics are staggering. Since mid-June, five people have died in five crashes; since early 2008, more than 26 people have been killed in automobile accidents from Churchill County to Carson City; also during that same time in Lyon County, 20 people have died in car crashes. As the population grows along that stretch of the Highway 50 corridor, especially through the Carson Plains and into Stagecoach and Silver Springs, so too will the number of accidents increase unless law enforcement comes down hard on speeding or reckless motorists.

We support the NHP and the three sheriff departments for stepping up to make this highway safer.

Increased patrols have begun on the 52-mile segment of Highway 50, and design changes to include frontage roads and median islands are also planned. The recently opened four-lane divided highway between Carson Plains and Stagecoach is a big plus for reducing the number of accidents, while providing safe turning lanes into the various subdivisions.

Churchill County Sheriff Ben Trotter said motorists have a responsibility when they drive.

“The most dangerous thing anybody does at any point during the day is get into the car,” he said.

In addition to this crackdown on U.S. Highway 50, we would like to see an additional presence of NHP troopers and Lyon and Churchill deputies between Silver Springs and Fernley and from Fallon to the Fernley roundabout. Those two highways have also had more than their share of accidents and deaths, especially Highway 50 Alternate from the Farm District Road to Gummow Drive, a dangerous highway in 2010 and 2011 with the number of fatalities.

Editorials written by the LVN Editorial Board appear on Wednesdays.