Moapa Valley Progress
The Glendale exit of Interstate 15 was closed for several hours on Tuesday afternoon, May 23 because of a single-car accident which resulted in a fatality.
At approximately 12:00 noon, a green Honda Civic was travelling southbound on I-15, according to Nevada Highway Patrol officials. The vehicle attempted to get off of the interstate at Exit 90 in Glendale but was traveling at a speed too fast for the offramp conditions. The driver applied the brakes and entered a skid.
The left side of the vehicle struck the guardrail post and the driver was partially ejected from the car. The vehicle then careened west off of the guard rail face and struck the guardrail again. At that point, the driver was fully ejected from the vehicle.
Without a driver, the Honda was redirected west down the offramp and entered the raised median area where it struck a sign post, then continued southwest through a chain fence, across both travel lands of State Route 168, and up a small embankment on the west dirt shoulder where it struck a barbed wire fence and stopped.
The driver was the only occupant in the vehicle. No other vehicles were involved in the accident.
The 59 year old male driver was later identified as Ruperto Valencial of Santa Rosa, California. He succumbed to injuries sustained in the crash and was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Impairment due to alcohol use was suspected by investigators but lab results were still pending.
The southbound exit 90 was closed to all traffic for more than six hours while investigators completed a full study of the accident scene. All traffic to Glendale and Moapa had to be rerouted to the Hidden Valley exit some two miles further south.
The offramp was re-opened at around 6:00 pm that evening.
