Utah Highway Patrol cracking down on distracted driving ahead of summer
Apr 8, 2025, 9:53 AM
Utah Highway Patrol trooper Geri Tew looks for distracted drivers along I-15 near Lehi on Thursday, April 8, 2021. The UHP and 20 other agencies will conduct a statewide distracted driver blitz through Monday morning, with the main focus in Salt Lake and Utah counties. Police in marked patrol cars, unmarked vehicles and motorcycles will be patrolling both the freeways and side streets. (Steve Griffin/Deseret News)
(Steve Griffin/Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — More Utah Highway Patrol troopers are hitting the roads in April to crack down on distracted driving.
UHP Lt. Cameron Roden said the goal is to prepare drivers for the 100 deadliest days on Utah’s roads.
“There is going to be extra enforcement out there,” said Roden. “We’re going to focus on this all month long in April—we focus on this through our normal enforcement activities—but this April we really are going to put a lot of emphasis on this, trying to make sure that we have a change going into the 100 deadliest days.”
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According to Roden, over 5,000 crashes involved distracted drivers in 2024. And since the beginning of 2025, there have already been over 1,000 crashes from distracted driving. However, he said there are still a lot of distracted driving cases that go unreported.
Roden said it’s important to help drivers be aware of what distracts them in the car.
“For some others it could be eating in the car, it could be passengers in the vehicle, it could be things going on outside of the vehicle. So everyone has to know what distractions they face, and then take the steps necessary to mitigate those distractions.”
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