Trees that are situated near Las Vegas roadways are supposed to add some scenery to what is often a dusty, sandy landscape. Unfortunately, those trees can sometimes be deadly if a vehicle crashes into one of them. Last month in Summerlin, a car lost control and struck a tree in the median, killing a passenger. And exactly one month later, a similar situation occurred in northwest Las Vegas.

On Sunday morning around 6:30am, a Nissan 350Z was driving east on Centennial Center Boulevard where it runs parallel to the Las Vegas Beltway. The car had passed Grand Montecito Parkway when it allegedly began street racing with another vehicle. The Nissan then lost control along the portion of Centennial Center that curves to the right. It rode sideways up onto the center median and crashed into a palm tree in front of the group of car dealerships along the roadway before it rolled over. The man driving the car and a male front seat passenger were killed at the scene, while the partially-ejected female passenger in the back seat was critically injured. Metro Police are still looking for information about the other vehicle which may have been street racing with the Nissan.

From the information given, it appears that the driver will be held responsible for the death of his front seat passenger and the injuries to the woman. That means that the estate of the driver could be named as the defendant in a personal injury lawsuit filed by the woman and a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of the deceased man. However, if police later determine that the other street racing vehicle forced the Nissan off the roadway, then its driver could be held liable for all three deaths.