LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A regular afternoon commute Thursday nearly turned deadly for Henderson resident David Bakanas.
"I saw this black dot coming at me," Bakanas said. "I was like 'I need to get out of the way because this is a vehicle traveling at me at a high rate of speed.'"
Fortunately, Bakanas was able to move over a lane as he continued on his trek westbound on the 215 Beltway near Centennial Hills. That black dot he saw? Well, just moments later that vehicle, driven by a man going the wrong way on the 215, passed him, it slammed into another vehicle head on, killing the other driver.
According to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, four fatal wrong-way crashes took place in the state in 2023, but so far this year — not even halfway through the year — that number has been eclipsed.
"It's happened several times just in the last couple of months," said Trooper Shawn Haggstrom of the Nevada State Police. "We'd like to curb the problem. Our dedicated troopers are out here trying to make all the stops."
The moment the black SUV passes Bakanas is captured on his dash cam. The video has made the rounds on social media. You can see it below.
"I was just driving defensively," Bakanas said. "If he made a move on me, I knew what I was going to do. If he was going to hit me, I was kind of trying to make it so that none of the other drivers around me were affected."
Haggstrom noted that, as tragic as Thursday's crash was, it also could have been much worse. That's because it happened during daylight hours — most wrong-way crashes happen at night — on a busy stretch of highway, just as rush hour was beginning in the valley.
For all of 2023, according to the Nevada Department of Public Safety, five deadly wrong-way crashes occurred in the state. Not even halfway through 2024, there are already more than that.
"I wish I could have done something to prevent what happened," Bakanas said. "It was just a senseless loss of life. You're always worried about people going the right direction when you're out driving, now you have to worry about people going the wrong direction."
