New data describes this year’s 100 deadliest days on the road
Sep 3, 2024, 7:00 PM
New data shows that the amount of deadly crashes in Utah this summer increased from last year. (FILE: Getty Images)
(FILE: Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s deadliest days on the road are over, with a higher number of deaths this year than last year.
The 100 deadliest days mark the time between Memorial Day and Labor Day, where Utah sees an uptick in the number of deaths on the roads.
There were 92 deadly crashes on Utah’s roads this summer, causing 101 fatalities, according to data from the Department of Public Safety and the Utah Department of Transportation.
That’s 20 more deaths on the road than in 2023, where there were 81 fatalities.
Many of those crashes have something in common, according to Lieutenant Cameron Roden with the Utah Highway Patrol.
“Speed is one of the common factors in a lot of these crashes that turn deadly. With additional speed becomes additional crash forces that we have to take into account,” he said.
Of all the months, July had the worst data.
“We had so many fatalities… It’s the highest number that we’ve had since we’ve actually started keeping record of that. We had 42 fatal crashes with 49 fatalities,” Roden said.
There were some more hopeful trends, including a decrease in deadly teen and bicycle accidents. But Roden says there was a significant increase in pedestrian fatalities.
He says there were also increases in fatal single-vehicle and single-occupant incidents, along with motorcycle crashes.
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