A 19-year-old Arizona man is dead and his passenger was flown to a Reno hospital after their car crossed the centerline on a remote stretch of State Route 376 and slammed into a double-tanker truck early Friday morning. Enoch Phillip Trevizo of Oracle, Arizona, was pronounced dead at the scene, roughly 25 miles north of Tonopah in rural Nye County.
According to FOX5 Las Vegas, Nevada Highway Patrol troopers responded to the crash at approximately 6:59 a.m. on September 18 near mile marker 22. Trevizo's blue 2015 Volkswagen Golf was traveling southbound when it crossed into the northbound lane and struck the left front of a 2023 Kenworth truck hauling double tanker trailers, the station reported. The impact spun the Volkswagen counterclockwise before it came to rest on the southbound dirt shoulder, while the truck stopped along the northbound shoulder.
A second occupant of the Volkswagen suffered suspected serious injuries and was transported to Reno by Care Flight, per the same account. The truck driver also claimed injuries following the crash. Nevada Highway Patrol continues to investigate the collision, the station noted.
A Remote Highway With a History of Fatal Wrecks
A Remote Highway Through Rural Nevada State Route 376 is a 99.8-mile state highway that winds through the Ralston and Big Smoky Valleys, connecting U.S. Route 6 east of Tonopah to U.S. Route 50 near Austin, according to Wikipedia. The route winds through the Ralston and Big Smoky Valleys.
Under Nevada Revised Statutes § 484B.200, drivers are legally required to stay on the right half of the roadway on highways of sufficient width, according to the Nevada Legislature.
No Local ER Means a Long Flight to Reno
Care Flight in Rural Nye County Care Flight is available to assist medical crews in Tonopah and Goldfield, and air transport can bring comfort, according to the Pahrump Valley Times. REMSA Health's Care Flight transports critical patients from Tonopah to Reno hospitals in roughly 70 minutes.
Under Nevada Revised Statutes § 484E.110, investigating officers must forward the report to the Department of Public Safety within 10 days after the investigation, per Justia Law. That means the underlying cause of why Trevizo's Volkswagen crossed the centerline — whether fatigue, speed, distraction, or something else — remains unresolved pending Nevada Highway Patrol's investigation.
A Mixed Picture on Statewide Traffic Deaths
The crash comes even as Nevada's overall traffic safety numbers have been trending in a better direction. Statewide traffic fatalities dropped nearly 12 percent through August 2026, with 230 deaths recorded compared to 261 during the same eight-month period in 2025, according to Nevada Office of Traffic Safety figures reported by KSNV News 3. Nevada recorded 380 roadway fatalities statewide in 2025, itself a decrease from 420 deaths in 2024, per a review of state data published by the Las Vegas Sun.
