Local News

Actions

Las Vegas agencies try to stop pedestrian deaths

Posted at 11:11 PM, Aug 16, 2018
and last updated 2018-08-17 12:31:46-04

Las Vegas police and other agencies are trying to stop traffic fatalities in our town.

In a video posted to Twitter, Captain Farese of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department says, "Las Vegas, together, if we work as a community, we can prevent these fatalities and make this a better community for us all to live."

Traffic Safety Advocate Erin Breen comments on recent crashes in the valley including a hit-and-run near Lake Mead and Martin Luther King boulevards that left a bicyclist in critical condition fighting for his life.

INTERACTIVE MAP: Pedestrians killed in Las Vegas valley crashes in 2018

"Chances are, they were either on their way to work or on their way home from work," said Breen. "(The bicyclist) did absolutely nothing wrong. They were exactly where they were supposed to be."

60-year-old Javier Jimenez-Rosales is suffering life-threatening injuries after police say the driver of a silver Dodge pickup truck took off from the scene.

"There aren't enough terrible things to say about that driver this morning," said Breen.

Breen also commented on pedestrian deaths here in Clark County.

In 2016, there were 57 pedestrians that lost their lives. In 2017, a record-breaking 78 pedestrians lost their lives. And so far this year, 37 pedestrians died.

"Each and every one of these people that we are talking about like they are a number, are a human being," said Breen. "They are people that someone loves."

Police and Breen call most traffic-related crashes preventable.

"Every crash is preventable if one of the parties does something right," she said.