Cases of road rage with guns have roughly doubled in Utah
Oct 7, 2024, 6:00 PM
Groups track statistics like how many people died on Utah's roadways in 2023, but until July, there was no good system in place to find out how many road rage incidents involving a gun occurred. (FILE: Adam Small/KSL NewsRadio)
(FILE: Adam Small/KSL NewsRadio)
SALT LAKE CITY — While exact numbers are hard to pin down, the number of cases of road rage where police say one driver either waved or pointed a gun or fired shots at another in Utah is up by about double in 2024 from 2023.
A shooting Monday that resulted in the death of one person represents at least the 15th case of road rage involving a gun in Utah in 2024. In 2023, police responded to at least 7 road rage cases involving a gun statewide.
We say “at least,” because the law that allowed police agencies to treat road rage as a crime and start tracking it took effect in July, which means exact numbers from official sources don’t exist.
Utah Highway Patrol numbers show about 41 cases of road rage, with or without a gun, from July 2024 to September 2024 in the state, just for their agency. That does not include any road rage where a different agency responded.
Road rage plus gun = deadly combination
KSL NewsRadio searched our past archive of reporting to determine how many times a road rage case in the last two years involved a gun in Utah. Before Monday’s incident, we discovered 14 such cases in 2024 statewide, and 7 in 2023. However, we can’t say for sure that either number is exact. Any cases of road rage that did not result in police action, for example, could slip under that radar. So could any cases that did not result in news coverage.
Related: First statistics released after several months of enhanced road rage law
What we do know: In four of those 15 cases from 2024, including Monday’s, someone died. That includes the murder of a man found near Jordanelle Reservoir in September and the shooting of a man in Lehi in June who died later.
Additionally, of all 15 cases in 2024, more than 40% took place since the new law took effect on July 1. No road rage shootings resulted in deaths in 2023 that KSL could find, but at least three cases resulted in injuries.
KSL’s review of past reporting showed cases of road rage involving a gun from north to south, east to west. They took place on interstates, city streets, and country roads alike. In most cases, police identified a male as the suspect.
A 2022 Forbes Advisor report found Utah leads the nation for road rage injuries – by looking at the number of people who know at least one person injured in a case of road rage. Their updated 2024 report puts Utah in third place overall for cases of road rage.
And it’s not just Utah, the trend can also be seen across America. The Trace, a publication that reports on gun violence, reported a more than 400 percent increase in gun violence related to road rage between 2014 and last year.
Read more:
- Arrest made in weekend Millcreek road rage incident
- Road rage: Man arrested, accused of firing shot at slow driver in Taylorsville
- Man accused of aggravated assault after road rage incident in Sandy
- Eagle mountain road rage incident ended up in charges under new road rage law
- West Point man charged with murder in Clearfield road rage shooting
- Two men, one teen in custody after alleged road rage and leading police on a multiple-state chase
- One person in critical condition after road rage shooting in Cedar City
- Lehi road rage incident kills one man, sends another to jail
- Driver flees scene of alleged road rage crash in SLC
