Three recent fatal accidents involving alcohol use outside of White Clay, Nebraska is causing concern for residents in neighboring rural communities.
As the debate over alcohol sales in White Clay continues in the Nebraska Supreme Court, Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons says citizens are concerned that people may be travelling even further from the Pine Ridge Reservation to get alcohol. "They do have a lot of concerns about the number of new cars on the road, that they are from out of state and that that is possibly related to travelling for alcohol."
When White Clay was allowed to sell alcohol, many Pine Ridge residents were able to walk to get their alcohol, but now they are seeking alcohol at the next closest option, like Rushville.
Simmons says she has been with the county since 2006, and can't remember a time with as many fatalities as the ones this summer. "I can not remember any other time period where we had this many serious, alcohol related accidents in the same general area in this short of a time period."
Simmons says it's too soon to determine if the increase in fatal accidents coincide with people travelling further for alcohol, but in any instance, the accidents are cause for apprehension. "Any time you have that kind of thing going on, specifically related to fatalities, that's always a significant concern."
At this point, Simmons says, only time will tell if there is a definite connection between the fatal accidents and liquor sales outside of Pine Ridge.