Motorcyclist killed, adding to higher-than-usual rider death toll in Las Vegas Nevada

A motorcyclist was killed this afternoon after crashing into a car in the western Las Vegas Valley, adding to this year’s already high rider death toll.He was identified as Tyler Weber, 19, of Las Vegas, according to Clark County Coroner’s Office officials.Weber was traveling east on Sahara Avenue when he collided with a Honda Civic that was turning left onto Miller Lane from Sahara's westbound lanes at about 3:15 p.m., Metro Police detectives said.The impact sent Weber flying off his vehicle. He was rushed to University Medical Center, where doctors pronounced him dead.No one else was seriously injured.Metro Police shut down the eastbound and westbound lanes of Sahara between Cimarron Road and Buffalo Drive after the incident, Officer Laura Meltzer said. A Regional Transportation Commission alert indicated both directions of Sahara traffic were reopened about 7:30 p.m.Fatal motorcycle crashes are up this year, according to Metro Police statistics. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 1, the department investigated the deaths of 20 motorcyclists, up significantly from 16 deaths in 2012 during the same time period. That number was even lower in 2011, when the department reported only 13 year to date.Overall, however, traffic fatalities are down by 21 percent this year compared with 2012. Today’s incident was the 77th death involving a vehicle in Las Vegas this year.The total number of crashes is down slightly by about 2 percent.From March 28 through Oct. 1, one of the city’s second-most dangerous traffic intersections was Sahara and Rainbow Boulevard, located about a mile east of today’s collision. During that period, there were 11 reported wrecks in which people were hurt at that location.By comparison, the most dangerous intersection was Charleston and Lamb boulevards, where 13 people were reported injured after vehicle crashes.