I-15 Barstow-Las Vegas and I-80 Sacramento-Reno (Los Angeles, Bakersfield: how much, home, wedding)

[mattyj46]

I read that the I-15 between Barstow and Las Vegas has its fair spate of accidents due to the vast empty spaces (people going well above the speed limit). How do the Highway patrol monitor this? Anybody who has been on this road, have you speed and got away with it or is it worth the risk?

And the I-80 between Sacramento and Reno, how is it affected by snow in the winter?? How passable is it and how are the conditions usually in the height of winter??

Cheers

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by mattyj46

I read that the I-15 between Barstow and Las Vegas has its fair spate of accidents due to the vast empty spaces (people going well above the speed limit). How do the Highway patrol monitor this? Anybody who has been on this road, have you speed and got away with it or is it worth the risk?

And the I-80 between Sacramento and Reno, how is it affected by snow in the winter?? How passable is it and how are the conditions usually in the height of winter??

Cheers

You heard right Matty. Interstate 15 is the only real link between southern California and Las Vegas, and Barstow is the place where one can choose to follow the 15 southwest toward the Los Angeles area, or take the north off-ramp that leads to 58 West which leads through the Tehachapi Mountains to Bakersfield and then to Highway 99, or, a bit further up in Bakersfield 58W picks up again and leads to the 5, which is the main North/South interstate in California. I always came from Northern California and merged onto the 15 as it goes through Barstow, and the traffic is always thick with people going far faster than the posted speed limits. Californians are in a hurry to get to Las Vegas to gamble and spend the weekends and they drive 80-90mph as traffic allows. I saw few California Highway Patrol cars on my many trips on the 15 over the last five years. They're there, and they do stop speeders occasionally, but there are so many they're outnumbered. Plus, once over the desert stretches and coming within sight of Primm, Nevada, people switch to rocket-fuel and hit the pedal to the metal in their haste to get across the Nevada border.. (I used to too!! Especially at night when after all that pitch-black darkness of the California desert for hundreds of miles, one suddenly sees the bright blazing lights of Primm in the distance as one drives down that last big mountain hump...an amazing sight! ) As for 80 between Sacramento and Reno, that's the main route to Lake Tahoe, so the traffic is really heavy there too usually. In the wintertime, if there are big blizzards in the Sierra, it can close I-80 down, though usually the California road crews keep the passes open by ploughing, though, they often require chains or turn you back. So if you take 80 in the winter up to Lake Tahoe or further to Reno, bring chains with you and the means to put them on the tires or you'll face scalpers willing to charge you a hundred dollars to do it for you!!!

[Kerry Noyes]

Originally Posted by mattyj46

Anybody who has been on this road, have you speed and got away with it or is it worth the risk?

Drive the speed limit or maybe 5 mph over for long enough to get used to the traffic, then adjust your speed so as to never stick out as the fastest car on the road. CHP always tags the worst speeders, and it's not uncommon to be passed by somebody going 100 and then see them again several miles down the road getting a ticket. Use your head and don't stick out. This is particularly true on Friday night, Sunday night, and all weekend long on holidays.

[melnper]

Matty- I can't say much about the whole stretch between Barstow and Vegas. But, I do live in Vegas and the 40 mile or so stretch from Vegas to Primm is very dangerous. I am constantly hearing about accidents, many very serious or even fatal, on the 15 both northbound and southbound. The majority of the time speed is a big factor, but so often the news states that the person drifted off the shoulder then overcorrected. People are tired from trips in from Cali and people leaving Vegas sometimes had little sleep after the Vegas partying. My husband used to commute to work at Primm and I was always nervous about him making that drive. A few miles over the speed limit is okay, but trying to make it home in record time just isn't worth the risk.

[cleosmom]

I-80 going from Sac over to Reno can indeed get icy and snow packed in the winter. The chain check area going East is typically in Applegate and if you're not packing chains (cable or irons) or running snow tires they can and will hold you until it's safe to go over Donner's Pass.

They do close Donner's Pass for brief periods, anywhere from an hour to six hours, most often due to accidents or if it's snowing heavy enough to give the plows time to do their job.

US 50 can be caught from I-80 in the Sacramento valley and it takes you into Lake Tahoe. They use the chain law on that highway as well.

[anthonysasst]

Just pulled in from a weekend trip to Vegas for a friend's wedding. Going to LV is a regular trip for us. I make it easy: catch the 91 East, take I-15 North all the way there. We always follow "the flow of traffic," which is usually 75 mph on an open road on the I-15 route. I don't consider that speeding, and I certainly don't think it is unsafe. Unsafe is going 60 and making cars swerve around you because 99.9% of the drivers are going steadily in concert with each other at the faster speed. Good question for a CHP to answer.
Of course, unsafe is also going much faster than the flow, weaving in and out of traffic (we call is "playing pole position" after the video game).
On this ride home, there were two cars that came up on us quickly, and did the whole macho-right on our tail-flip us off and whip around us action; one a huge SUV, the other a small new sporty sedan. Down the road, traffic came to a slow crawl. Imagine how we felt when we saw those two cars smashed together in the fast lane . . . When the flow of traffic gets up to the 80 mph range, we get to the right and keep it at 75 - there's usually plenty of cars that are going that rate, so we fit right in without being unsafe.
Next section of your question: Is it worth it? Speeding is never worth it when you are causing any kind of unsafe condition. Figure the math, and realistically how much time you save.
A ten mile trip at 40 mph takes 15 minutes. Same ten miles at 60 mph - hugely unsafe on roads marked 40 mph - will take 10 minutes. How could saving 5 minutes ever be worth the risk of accidents and injury, let alone a speeding ticket! How I wish speeders would consider this.

[OCCASparky]

Good post. I don't know how many times I've run to LV (yes, I speed a bit but not overly so) and been passed by people doing well over 100 mph.

As far as I-15 goes, it's hard to make any serious time lately because of the construction and traffic on Friday/Sunday. Also, even on the "open" stretches, CHP and the San Bernardino Sheriffs patrol and CHP even runs air patrols.

Still faster than flying, when you consider the time it takes to get to the airport, get through security, etc...

[Thunderbird]

Yes, good post and interesting timing! Today there is an article in the local newspaper (Victor Valley Daily Press), about the speeders on the I-15 - the corridor from Las Vegas to Victorville.

The article talks about an officer who wrote seven tickets during 45-minute span. All had been driving more than 90 mph.

Between the speeders and the contruction, driving to Vegas is a gamble in itself.

Wish they never closed down the train route to Vegas.

[movingoutofCA]

They also have air traffic control for that stretch of desert. In CA the left lane is 'the fast lane'. In other states you are only allowed to use this lane for passing. A lot of out of state drivers are the ones weaving in and out, instead of just going a steady pace. And there is a lot of out of state traffic on that fwy.

[vsm]

Hi Folks,
I will be taking a road trip to Las Vegas, From Sacramento to Las Vegas. The google/yahoo maps provide the following directions, I-99S to CA58E and then to I-15N, which is the main highway to Vegas. I did drove on I-15 and I-215 while I was in Vegas few weeks ago, but never took the road trip.

Any better roads, or alternatives, or tips that can help prepare better for this trip?

thanks folks.
vsm