CARSON CITY — The Nevada Department of Transportation and Nevada State Police are reminding motorists to drive attentively, slow down and move over for traffic response vehicles.
There are approximately 50,000 reported crashes on Nevada roads every year. Traffic incidents are the primary cause of death for police officers and emergency medical responders nationwide, with approximately 40 first responders struck and killed this year on the nation’s roads. To help keep drivers, incident victims and first responders safe, Nevada traffic incident response partners remind motorists that Nevada law has long required drivers to slow down, proceed with caution, and if possible, move to the far lane when passing a vehicle(s) pulled over on the side of the road with lights on. Since 2017, an updated law requires drivers to do the same for NDOT and other road work vehicles with flashing amber or non-flashing blue lights on.
Nevada law also requires drivers involved in minor, non-injury fender benders to safely move their vehicle out of the travel lanes when possible, helping reduce the chance of secondary crashes for themselves and other drivers.
“Please slow down and move over when you see flashing lights on our roadways,” said Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Colonel Pat Conmay. “Our first responders, NDOT workers, and tow truck drivers are working diligently to keep our roadways and our travelling public safe– and they also want to make it home safely to their loved ones.”
National statistics show that for every minute a freeway lane is blocked, the resulting traffic congestion takes four minutes to clear, and the chance of more severe secondary crash increases. The Nevada Departments of Transportation and Nevada State Police, local law enforcement, fire departments, public works, emergency medical responders, federal highway, homeland security and transit administrations as well as private towing and hazardous materials responders train together, joining forces across the state in regional traffic incident management (TIM) coalitions to improve road incident response and roadway safety while reducing travel delays. Since Nevada’s first TIM Coalition was founded in southern Nevada in 2008, coalitions statewide have trained more than 74 percent of all incident responders to implement consistent, safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents. More than 575 Nevada first responders have been trained in traffic incident safety thus far in 2022. The collaborative, multiagency training help incident responders throughout the state seamlessly work together. More information is available at www.NVtim.com.
Driving Safety Tips
• Keep your car in good condition, including routine maintenance and checks.
• Always buckle up. Never drive impaired or while sleepy or distracted.
• Drive attentively, not aggressively. Continually scan the road ahead of you to be prepared.
• Do not speed. Space your vehicle far enough from other cars so you have time to avoid potential crashes.
• Keep updated on current state road conditions by logging onto nvroads.com or dialing 511 before driving.