Motorcycle crash north of Tonopah turns fatal, man dies after April wreck

A 72-year-old Washington state man has died after a motorcycle crash on State Route 376 about 15 miles north of Tonopah, adding another fatality to one of rural Nevada’s most isolated highway corridors.

Leslie Leigh French of Camas, Washington, was injured in the April 21 wreck near Nye County mile marker 10 and died May 3, according to the Nevada Highway Patrol. Troopers responded around 5:30 a.m. and say the motorcycle failed to stay in its lane, drifted onto the right dirt shoulder, became unstable, overturned and threw French from the bike. He was taken to a regional trauma center after the crash.

The death puts a renewed spotlight on State Route 376, a roughly 100-mile highway that connects U.S. Route 6 near Tonopah with U.S. Route 50 near Austin. On roads like this, a single-vehicle loss of control can quickly become a life-threatening emergency, especially when traffic is sparse and medical help is far from the scene.

The Nevada Highway Patrol Major Incident Reconstruction Team is still investigating. Anyone with information is being asked to contact the highway patrol office in Elko at (775) 753-1111. NHP also lists a Tonopah substation at 1137 S. Main St., Suite A4, Tonopah, and an Elko substation at 3920 E. Idaho St., Elko.

The fatal crash comes as Nevada continues to record deadly roadway tolls. The state logged 381 fatal crashes and 419 traffic deaths in 2024, and Nye County has repeatedly ranked among the counties with significant crash-death totals. For Tonopah and the communities stretched along central Nevada’s long highways, the case is another reminder that miles of open road do not mean risk-free driving.

Before traveling State Route 376, drivers should expect a remote route with long distances between services, little margin for error and response times that can be slower than in urban areas. Staying fully in the lane, slowing down on the shoulderless stretches and planning for the full distance between Tonopah and Austin matter on a road where a brief drift can turn fatal.