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Apparent street racing crash highlights issue on Las Vegas road

Posted at 7:27 PM, Jan 31, 2018
and last updated 2018-02-02 12:30:16-05

Omar and Kevin Garcia were killed near Sahara Avenue and Lamb Boulevard in a crash police are saying may have been caused by street racing.

20-year-old Omar and 17-year-old Kevin were brothers. They were driving east on Sahara when police say they hit an SUV.  Both of them were killed, and two people in the other car were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

But some say the crash is part of a bigger in the issue in the area. Police say the area near Sahara and Lamb has seen fatal crashes before, and that part of the problem is due to long stretches of road with no traffic lights in between, which can make them tempting for racing.

13 Action News reached out to Nevada Department of Transportation, who tells us there are no plans to add any additional traffic lights along that section of Sahara. 

NDOT spokesman Tony Illia says Sahara was designed that way based on traffic flow, and they don't change the design to anticipate speeding or racing.  However, he says, if a problem persists, they can address it again in the future.

RELATED: What can be done to prevent street racing deaths?

In the meantime, Omar and Kevin's family wants to use their loss as a lesson for other young drivers. 

"Just be mindful, respect the people around you, and understand that you don't know it all."

The family has set up a GoFundMe page in their memory.