A woman experiencing a mental health episode rigged her car to drive into the Nebraska Capitol on Monday afternoon, according to the Nebraska State Patrol.
Patrol spokesman Cody Thomas said the woman put a rock on the gas pedal and then got out of the car, which was aimed at the building.
Instead, the car crashed into a tree a few feet away, he said. The Legislature was not in session on Monday.
Troopers, who provide security at the Capitol, took the driver into custody and transported her to the hospital, according to a tweet from the patrol's account several hours later.
There were no injuries.
Recently a Colorado woman, 20-year-old Alexa Bartell, was killed after a group of teens threw a large rock through her windshield. Bartell then crashed her car and now police say, not only did the teens who threw the rock do nothing to help her, they also took photos of the wrecked vehicle as a memento of the incident. Veuer’s Tony Spitz has the details.
These are the highways in Nebraska with the most fatalities.
These are the highways in Nebraska with the most fatalities.
Americans travel billions of cumulative interstate miles every year—statistically, accidents are almost a certainty. Still, many traffic crashes and subsequent fatalities are avoidable.
In 2020, nearly 39,000 people were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes on U.S. roadways—an increase of roughly 7% from 2019, according to the most recent data released in 2022 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In nearly half of all fatal crashes, drivers were either speeding, impaired by alcohol, not wearing a seat belt, or some combination of those three, according to NHTSA.
Highway driving, in particular, can lead to more serious or fatal accidents than on other roadways because vehicles are traveling at much greater speeds.
President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has earmarked tens of billions of dollars for programs that will improve road safety in the U.S., including programs to improve physical infrastructure, vehicle safety, and data collection.
Stacker ranked data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, to identify the highways in Nebraska that had the most fatalities from auto crashes in 2020. Ties were broken by the total quantity of crashes where possible.
#25. Washington St
- Total fatalities: 1
- Number of crashes: 1
#18. US-385
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. US-20
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. SR-92
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. SR-89
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. SR-33
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. Abbott Dr
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#18. 13Th St
- Total fatalities: 2
- Number of crashes: 2
#17. I-480
- Total fatalities: 3
- Number of crashes: 2
#14. US-26
- Total fatalities: 3
- Number of crashes: 3
#14. SR-71
- Total fatalities: 3
- Number of crashes: 3
#14. SR-50
- Total fatalities: 3
- Number of crashes: 3
#12. US-281
- Total fatalities: 4
- Number of crashes: 3
#12. SR-64
- Total fatalities: 4
- Number of crashes: 3
#11. SR-35
- Total fatalities: 4
- Number of crashes: 4
#10. US-83
- Total fatalities: 5
- Number of crashes: 4
#8. SR-91
- Total fatalities: 5
- Number of crashes: 5
#8. SR-2
- Total fatalities: 5
- Number of crashes: 5
#7. US-275
- Total fatalities: 6
- Number of crashes: 6
#6. US-77
- Total fatalities: 7
- Number of crashes: 6
#5. US-81
- Total fatalities: 8
- Number of crashes: 7
#4. US-6
- Total fatalities: 10
- Number of crashes: 10
#3. US-75
- Total fatalities: 11
- Number of crashes: 10
#2. US-30
- Total fatalities: 11
- Number of crashes: 11
#1. I-80
- Total fatalities: 28
- Number of crashes: 23
Lauren Penington
News intern
