LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada State Police are calling attention to "an alarming rise" in fatal crashes in recent weeks, with the hope that Nevadans will listen.
Last month, the agency investigated the highest number of fatal crashes since May 2020, Trooper Ashlee Wellman, a state police public information officer, shared in a social media video posted Friday.
Tragically we responded to a fatal crash this morning where another life was lost too soon. Please Nevada always wear your seatbelt ,pay full attention, never drive impaired and slow down. #NevadaStatePolice pic.twitter.com/e3JlBmWBYQ
— Nevada State Police (@NVStatePolice) June 2, 2023
So far this year, the Nevada State Police, Highway Patrol's Southern Command has investigated 34 fatal crashes that caused the deaths of 38 people, Wellman said. Twelve of those crashes — and 14 of those deaths — occurred in the month of May.
"That is 14 lives that were taken far too soon," Wellman said.
She compared those numbers to the number of fatal crashes just a year earlier in May of 2022, when she says the agency investigated two crashes that resulted in three deaths.
"That's an alarming rise in our fatality numbers in one month alone," Wellman said.
Speeding and impairment remain the top two factors that contribute to fatal crashes in Southern Nevada, state police said.
"And that is why we cannot stress enough to always remember, please wear your seat belt, slow down, never drive impaired, never drive distracted and do not speed," Wellman said. "Please, Nevada, lives are in your hands. Slow down and drive safe."
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The month of May typically begins what's known as the "100 Deadliest Days" of the year for fatal crashes, lasting from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
It's a time public safety officials often devote to raising awareness of the rate of fatal collisions on our roads and how to prevent them.
As of May 2, 107 deaths were recorded on Nevada roads so far in 2023; 69 of them in Clark County. According to Zero Fatalities Nevada, that number was down 6.14% from the same period last year.
Data for the month of May hadn't been added to that total as of this report.
