Wrong-way car crashes in Utah significantly down so far in 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — It looks like Utahns have done a good job curbing the problem of wrong-way driving in the state.

According to data provided by the Utah Highway Safety Office, there have only been 10 wrong-way crashes on the freeways and divided highways so far in 2025. Compared to the 24 crashes there were in 2024, that’s a decrease of more than 58%.

Utah Highway Patrol Lieutenant Cameron Roden thinks this is partly because more people are aware of this problem now than in years past.

“We’ve been really focusing on it for the last several years because we have had such a rash of them in the years prior to this,” Roden said.

He also said that because most cases of wrong-way driving are due to driving under the influence, he thinks more people are just making better decisions.

“Most of these are impaired drivers, but we do get a few … maybe a confused driver, somebody that just doesn’t know where they are,” Roden said. “We’ve been really sharing that message, helping individuals know that this is an issue and what the contributors are, such as impaired driving.”

The number of people who’ve died in wrong-way crashes is also down from years past, but since there are four more months left in the year, officials are urging people to do what they can to make sure these numbers don’t go up.

This year, wrong-way crash fatalities are also down. In 2024, six people died in wrong-way crashes, compared to two this year.

The full data:

• 2018: 27 wrong-way crashes, 6 people died.
• 2019: 19 wrong-way crashes, 2 people died.
• 2020: 37 wrong-way crashes, 9 people died.
• 2021: 25 wrong-way crashes, 7 people died.
• 2022: 28 wrong-way crashes, 9 people died.
• 2023: 33 wrong-way crashes, 7 people died. 
• 2024: 24 wrong-way crashes, 6 people died.
• 2025: 10 wrong-way crashes, 2 people died, as of the date of this publication.

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