UDOT reports 320 people lost their lives on Utah roads last year
Jan 5, 2023, 9:30 PM
FILE: A 105 mph speed caught by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper. According to the Department of Public Safety there were more than 6,300 motorists stopped last year for going faster than 100 mph on Utah roads. (Utah Highway Patrol)
(Utah Highway Patrol)
SALT LAKE CITY — There were 320 lives lost on Utah roads during 2022, that’s according to the Utah Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety.
This is 12 fewer lives lost than in 2021. As a result, the Road to Zero Fatalities campaign will continue on in 2023. UDOT spokesman John Gleason says its goal every year remains the same – public safety.
“We have a strong commitment to improving access to those opportunities for pedestrians, for bicyclists,” he said. “And everyone who uses our roads to get to where they’re going safely.”
In the last year alone, Gleason says UDOT has approved Transportation Committee 40. That will be used for projects such as walking and biking trails, pedestrian bridges and bike lanes.
“We don’t measure our success any longer on how many vehicles we can move,” he said. “It’s about moving people and we have to have that complete picture, that complete outlook on our transportation system to be successful.”
Speed and aggressive driving were one of the big concerns over the past year.
According to the Department of Public Safety, there were more than 6,300 contacts with drivers, who were going faster than 100 mph.
Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News can be heard on weekdays from 3 to 7 p.m.
Read more:
- Deaths on Utah roads hold steady from 2020 to 2021
- The 100 deadliest days in Utah begins with multiple fatalities
