Executive Summary

The state of Utah has made great strides in reducing the motor vehicle crash rate.   Since 1967, the injury and fatal crash rates in Utah have steadily decreased.  The reduction can be attributed to local and statewide traffic safety programs that have increased awareness of the problem, laws mandating seatbelt use, decreased speed limits and increased DUI legislation and enforcement.  Despite this progress, motor vehicle crashes continue to take their toll.  In our state a crash occurs every 10 minutes, a person is injured in a crash every 26 minutes, and one person dies every day from a motor vehicle related crash. 

In 1997, there were 54,952 crashes accounting for 31,237 injured persons and 366 fatalities in Utah. Overall, crash participants are male, and in the age group 15-24 years. In addition, while most crashes occurred in the urban areas, fatal crashes were more likely to occur in rural areas. Increased speeds and longer response time for emergency medical services in the rural areas may account for the rural/urban difference in fatal crash rates. 

Speeding and impaired driving are contributing factors that led to severe injury or death in motor vehicle crashes. There were over 8,000 speed related crashes in 1997 resulting in 120 fatalities.  The majority of the speed related fatalities occurred on highways.  Almost 2,000 crashes were attributed to alcohol and other drug involvement resulting in 88 fatalities.  In fact, almost 25% of all crash fatalities were alcohol or drug related.  While alcohol or drug related crashes are a great concern nationwide, for Utah, speeding appears to be the leading factor associated with crash fatalities and may warrant increased attention.

Seat belts have been shown to save lives and decrease the severity of injuries in motor vehicle crashes. In Utah, unbelted occupants were 10 times more likely to sustain a fatal injury than belted occupants.  Overall, 87% of the occupants involved in a crash in 1997 reported using a seat belt but seat belt use rates varied by age and type of crash. Children under the age of 5 years had the highest belt use (94%) while those aged 15-19 years experienced the lowest use (80%). Unfortunately, the rate for seat belt use for fatalities was much lower: only 40% of the occupants who died in a crash were reported wearing a seat belt.  In addition, the majority of ejected occupants (who often suffer severe injury or death) were not belted.

Pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists involved in a motor vehicle crash are at risk from suffering an injury or death.  In 1997, over 90% of pedestrians or bicyclists involved in a motor vehicle crash experienced an injury or death compared to 23% of all motor vehicle crash participants.  Motorcyclists are also vulnerable to injury and death.  Approximately 85% of motorcycle crashes resulted in an injury or death.  As with seatbelts, helmets have proven to reduce severe injury and death for bicyclists and motorcyclists.  Unfortunately, only 22% of motorcyclists involved in a crash were reported to be wearing a helmet.

Utah drivers under the age of 17 years experience higher crash rates than other drivers.  Every hour, a crash occurs that involves a young driver.  Lack of driving experience may contribute to the higher crash rates for young drivers.  In fact, over half of the young drivers involved in a crash received a citation compared to a third of all drivers.  The leading cause of citations was failure to yield right of way, improper lookout, and following too closely.  In addition, the leading contributing factor to young driver fatal crashes was speed too fast. 

Motor vehicle crashes in Utah continue to be a leading cause of death and disability in the state.  Of particular concern are speed-related crashes, and crashes involving pedestrians, motorcyclists and young drivers.