Our View: System for safer intersections

Fifty close calls a year.

That is the estimate of the number of times a car comes close to colliding with an emergency vehicle at just one intersection in Carson City.

Monday's accident involving a fire command vehicle was not a close call, it was the real thing. Three people were injured, including an acting battalion chief and occupants of two other vehicles.,

College Parkway and Carson Street is developing a reputation as a dangerous place to drive - and especially dangerous for emergency vehicles trying to get through.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way for the people who are responding to fires and traffic accidents could take control of the traffic signals?

There is. And thanks to the Nevada Department of Transportation, at least Carson Street will be safe for emergency vehicle travel.

The state has sprung for the $4,000 per intersection it will take to pay for an Opticom system along Carson Street.

This system consists of a sensor and a strobe that changes the lights in the path of an oncoming emergency vehicle.

Fire Chief Lou Buckley said the system would probably have prevented Monday's accident, and it will reduce the number of close calls.

City firefighters looked at purchasing the system during the last budget, but there wasn't enough money.

It appears that the state is a lifesaver in more ways than one.