133 Dead in Wrong-Way Crashes in Nevada in Five Years: Steps to Protect Yourself

Federal data shows 133 people were killed on Nevada roadways in wrong-way driving crashes in just five years.

The figure from 2020 to 2024 reflects the most recent statistics available on wrong-way crashes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Since 2024, the carnage caused by wrong-way drivers in Southern Nevada has only continued.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal documented at least 18 other fatalities caused by wrong-way drivers in Clark and Nye counties in the last 22 months. Four others were killed in wrong-way crashes in Utah and California, not far from state lines in Southern Nevada, during the same time frame.

The data shows that despite the deployment of preventive technology on interstate off-ramps, DUI saturation patrols by law enforcement and even a change in state law, the lethal problem of wrong-way crashes persists in the Silver State. Nevada Highway Patrol trooper Shawn Haggstrom said impairment by an involved driver is often to blame in wrong-way crashes.

In 2024, he said, troopers investigated 12 wrong-way fatal crashes involving 20 fatalities, with 10 of those crashes in Clark County. In those crashes where toxicology tests were performed on the motorists, all came back positive for alcohol or drugs, Haggstrom said.

One wrong-way driver who killed a Metropolitan Police Department officer in a 2024 crash on Interstate 15 near Moapa was nearly three times the legal limit for alcohol. The Arizona Department of Transportation has said two out of three wrong-way crashes are caused by impaired drivers.

“In Southern Nevada we have an issue of impaired driving that impacts everyone,” Haggstrom said. “The Nevada Highway Patrol would like to remind everyone that we want our locals and visitors alike to have a good time here in Las Vegas, the entertainment capital of the world.

“We are not saying don’t have a good time, but we would like to remind you, if you choose to use alcohol or drugs, please don’t get behind the wheel of your car,” he said.

Haggstrom said there are some facts about wrong-way crashes that motorists need to be aware of. The majority of wrong-way crashes happen at night, between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., and take place on weekends. Several have occurred on Interstate 11 and U.S. Highway 95, north of the Las Vegas Valley in rural areas, although this trend is not definitive. Some fatal wrong-way crashes have also occurred in highly populated areas of Las Vegas.

Haggstrom also said there are steps motorists can take to protect themselves. Some of them are obvious: wearing your seat belt and making sure your headlights are on can save your life when facing the prospects of a wrong-way driver coming at you.

“Try to use the right lane, if possible, when traveling, especially at night,” Haggstrom said. “Most wrong-way crashes happen in the left lane. Wrong way drivers tend to drive closest to the median, which they believe they are in the right lane.”

Haggstrom said drivers should always be scanning the road ahead.

“Scan at least 10 to 15 seconds ahead while driving,” he said. “This allows you to use evasive action, such as allowing your reaction time for an upcoming event in front of you.”

Nevada lawmakers, meanwhile, have taken steps to curb the problem. In 2025, state law made wrong-way driving on a divided highway a misdemeanor. Prior to that it was a civil infraction.

The Nevada Department of Transportation said it has deployed 14 wrong-way-driver systems in Clark County since 2023. The technology includes cameras, sensors and flashing beacons to alert drivers that they are headed the wrong way, giving them the chance to correct their direction. Each leg of an interchange costs about $250,000 to install a wrong-way detection system, or $1 million to do a typical interchange with four legs.

“Our studies show that these systems can be very effective if the person is not impaired,” NDOT spokesman Hector Mejia said in an email.

The problem of wrong-way drivers is certainly not unique to Nevada. The NHTSA said there were 6,374 fatal crashes involving a wrong way driver nationally, resulting in 8,089 fatalities, from 2020 to 2024.

Multiple states are now taking action. In Massachusetts the state has installed nearly 90 detection systems since June in a $75 million statewide initiative to prevent wrong-way driving crashes and improve roadway safety across Massachusetts. The state said the new technology has already detected more than 215 wrong-way driving incidents, with approximately 140 drivers correcting course.

Contact Glenn Puit at [email protected].