Patience can change Utah’s 100 deadliest days

SALT LAKE CITY — The 100 days between Memorial Day weekend and Labor Day see nearly double the amount of deaths on Utah roads compared to any other part of the year.

Last year alone there was almost a death each day on the roads totaling 98 deaths in that time frame.

“And that to us just is way too high and really, it should be too high to anybody who’s on the road because it’s people we know,  it’s our friends, it’s our loved ones,” 

Lt. Jalaine Hawkes with the Utah Highway Patrol said it’s never too late to change old bad habits. Right before the holiday weekend is a perfect time to start.

“I think the biggest contributors that we have is speed and unrestrained drivers. So, even just by sitting in the vehicle and putting your seatbelt on, you’ve already lowered your risk to be able to be one of those numbers,” Hawkes said.

Last Memorial Day weekend, there were seven deaths on Utah roads. The highest number of deaths during one weekend in the past several years.

“We will be enforcing speed, seatbelts, other things that are contributors to keep that number at zero,” Hawkes said. “We’re here to ask everyone else to do the same.”

She urged Utahns to get back to the basics as they head out on the road.

That means get enough sleep before a long travel day, never drink and drive, buckle up, don’t speed, use caution, and never get out of your car if you get in a crash.

Also, don’t forget to pack that patience.

“If you can make a couple of decisions, just a little bit differently, you can contribute to that number being zero as well,” Hawkes said.

You will start to notice more and more troopers out on the road starting Friday as they make sure we’re all using those basic driving skills, along with making sure we are sharing the roads as safely as possible.