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Nevada Traffic Deaths Down 4.8% Through October, but Pedestrian Fatalities Climb
State data show 299 people died on Nevada roads from January through October, a 4.78% decline from 2025, yet pedestrian deaths rose 5% to 84. Clark County saw a 12% drop, while several rural counties recorded sharp increases.
Nevada roads have claimed 299 lives so far in 2026, a 4.78% decrease from the same period last year, according to a preliminary monthly report from the Nevada Department of Public Safety's Office of Traffic Safety. The data, covering January 1 through October 31, also show 277 fatal crashes, down 6.42% from 296 during the same stretch in 2025, when 314 people died.
While the overall trend is an improvement, pedestrian deaths are moving in the wrong direction. The report counts 84 pedestrian fatalities, up 5% from 80 a year earlier. Motorcyclist deaths fell to 64 from 71, a 9.86% decline, and bicyclist deaths dropped by half, from 14 to 7. Deaths involving people on scooters, mopeds, ATVs or other motorized vehicles rose to 5 from 3.
Among vehicle occupants, 139 people died, down 4.79% from 146. The report linked 54 deaths to unrestrained drivers and passengers, a 5.26% decrease from 57. State officials identified impairment and speeding as the leading contributing factors in fatal crashes.
Clark County, home to Las Vegas and the bulk of the state's population, recorded 175 deaths, down 12.06% from 199. Washoe County saw 37 deaths, a 26% drop from 50. But fatalities rose sharply in several rural counties: Lyon County reported 17 deaths, up from 6; Nye County 16, up from 5; Elko County 15, up from 11; and Churchill County 7, up from 5. Carson City recorded 4 deaths, unchanged from the prior year.
Monthly totals in 2026 have ranged from a low of 24 in March to 34 in both July and September. Fatalities were lower than the corresponding month in 2025 in January, February, March, April and June, and equal in August. They were higher in May (31 vs. 28), July (34 vs. 30), September (34 vs. 27) and October (33 vs. 26).
The figures are preliminary. The report notes that 2026 data will not be final until the Fatality Analysis Reporting System release in 2028, and 2025 data will not be final until 2027. For communities across the state, the mixed picture underscores the persistent risks faced by pedestrians and the need for continued attention to impaired and speeding drivers, particularly as rural counties experience troubling spikes in roadway deaths.