Published March 16, 2021 at 9:03 AM MDT
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Traffic fatalities in Utah increased last year, even though the number of cars on the road declined. This story and more in the Tuesday morning news brief.
Tuesday morning, March 16, 2021
State
Unsafe Driving Went Up in 2020
Traffic fatalities in Utah increased last year, even though the number of cars on the road declined. Because of that, Utah’s Department of Transportation is launching a new campaign aimed at improving drivers’ behaviors. UDOT’s Carlos Braceras said research shows Utahns believe they care more about safety than other drivers on the road do, but that’s a Catch-22. “It can lead them to do unsafe things, to basically telling themselves that one small lie, that it will be OK for me to do this because I'm safer than anyone else on the roadways,” Braceras said. The campaign will focus on reducing distracted, aggressive and impaired driving. The number of citations given to people in Utah for driving over 100 miles-per-hour increased by 45% in 2020 compared to the previous two years. —