Three auto-pedestrian accidents this weekend had a common denominator
Dec 30, 2024, 6:00 PM
FILE: Officers respond to and investigate a fatal auto-pedestrian accident on Wasatch Boulevard near 6200 South in Cottonwood Heights on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
(Scott G Winterton/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — December has been a dangerous month for pedestrians on roads all across Utah. Three people were killed in auto-pedestrian accidents between Dec. 26 and 27, another person was killed in Park City on Dec. 19.
The deaths represent a “scary trend” according to Tooele City Police Sgt. Colbey Bentley, who said Tooele had more fatal pedestrian accidents than average in 2024.
Across the valley in South Jordan, Police Sgt. Eric Anderson reported around 55 auto-pedestrian accidents in 2024.
And while the focus tends to be on drivers in these situations, Anderson said that pedestrians must also increase their awareness.
“You’re waiting for that light to indicate that you can cross, that it’s safe to do so,” Anderson said. “But that’s just a light, it’s just a machine.”
Anderson and Bentley agreed that more pedestrians need to make eye contact with drivers, to ensure that both parties are fully aware and engaged.
In other words, to ensure that neither the driver nor the pedestrian is distracted by something else.
“Everybody has AirPods in their ears nowadays and aren’t really paying attention to where they’re going or what’s coming at them, or toward them,” Anderson said.
Reviewing the rules of the road is also suggested.
Bentley said people aren’t following simple traffic rules like coming to a complete stop at stop signs. Add that to a pedestrian’s distractions, and the result could be deadly.
A reminder from the Utah Department of Public Safety
If you want to become a better driver and are motivated by lists, this one may interest you. It’s a partial list of the skills included in the Driving Skills Test:
- whether or not you correctly use lanes
- turning right,
- turning left,
- parking on a hill
- parking between cars
- paying attention to traffic signs and traffic signals,
- backing up, and
- attention at intersections.
That last one is important. In a recent study, Utah ranked fourth in the nation for fatal auto-pedestrian crashes in intersections.
