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Few problems on area roadways during holiday weekend

Staff and wire reports

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – South Shore law enforcement agencies reported minimal problems during the busy Memorial Day weekend.

California Highway Patrol officers responded to five collisions and made four drunken driving arrests during the weekend, said South Shore CHP spokesman Jeff Gartner.

The most serious traffic accident occurred Saturday evening, when a motorcyclist was flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno after losing control on Highway 88 west of Snowshoe Springs campground in Alpine County, Gartner said. The rider complained of hip and head pain following the crash, Gartner said.



South Lake Tahoe Police and El Dorado County Sheriff’s also reported a largely uneventful weekend.

Sheriff’s Lt. Les Lovell reported no major injury accidents over the holiday.



“For us, it was pretty quiet,” Lovell said.

Nevada Highway Patrol spokesman Check Allen agreed.

Allen did not have numbers available for Douglas County or Carson City, but said the 24 traffic-related rests by NHP in the Reno area over the weekend were on par with the law enforcement agency might see during a typical weekend.

On Monday, NHP logged only four traffic collisions for all of Northern Nevada, Allen said.

“I would say it was extremely quiet,” Allen said.

Statewide, the CHP arrested more people statewide during the holiday weekend than last year, but saw fewer fatalities.

The CHP said Tuesday that 17 people were killed statewide in collisions over the 78-hour period beginning 6 p.m. Friday. That’s about 62 percent less than the number killed during the same period last year.

CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow attributed the decline in fatalities to increased enforcement and awareness.

The number of arrests by CHP officers over the long weekend rose from 1,465 last year to 1,541 this year.

Following a search and rescue effort in the Meeks Bay area near the end of May, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office has issued a series of recommendations for people traveling in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

On May 26, two Las Vegas residents set out on a short hike on Meeks Bay Trail, left the trail and became lost, said Sheriff’s Deputy Greg Almos in a press statement.

Although the pair was only about a mile into the backcountry they were unable to get their bearings an called 911 using a cell phone. A Calstar helicopter ambulance crew located the pair using GPS coordinates acquired from the phone. The helicopter crew landed and brought the hikers out to rescuers, Almos said.

The sheriff’s office recommends carrying water, sticking to a plan, remaining on established trails, considering using a navigational device, letting someone know your plans, reviewing the weather, having supplies appropriate for the forecasted weather and remaining stationary if you do become lost when traveling in the backcountry.


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