Highway patrol reports area crashes in Churchill County, Carson City

A two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 50 near Trento Lane Saturday night caused minor delays in the eastbound lane, reports the Nevada Highway Patrol.

Trooper Duncan Dauber said Tracy Runnels, 32, of Reno was cited for following too close to another vehicle.

Dauber said Runnels was following an Audi Quatro in her Ford Expedition. According to the NHP report, for some unknown reason the vehicle in front of her slowed down, causing Runnels to steer left, clipping the Audi with her vehicle’s right front fender.

Neither Runnels nor the other driver, Manuel Pinuelos, 43, of Carson City, was injured. Dauber said both drivers were wearing seat belts.

Dauber also said the NHP responded to a single-vehicle crash in Carson City Friday night that killed 55-year-old Melanie Marnne-Lawson of Reno. She was traveling southbound on I-580 in the fast lane when her car swerved into the left dirt shoulder. She steered the vehicle to the right, causing her to re-enter the highway from the fast lane into the slow lane where she hit a concrete wall.

On Saturday morning, a vehicle struck 86-year-old Lillian Joslin who was crossing in the crosswalk. Joslin was transported to Renown Regional Medical Center via CareFlight but later died at the hospital.

The driver was cited and deemed at fault for the crash, according to the Carson City Sheriff’s Office.