As fatal crashes steadily rise on Utah’s roadways, driver safety is quickly becoming a rising issue. At Feller & Wendt, LLC, we wanted to take a more detailed look at fatal crash data, including investigating any underlying causes or contributing factors to the rising fatalities.
With statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), we developed an interactive visualization of Utah crash data that takes a closer look at motor vehicle crash deaths in the state.
Key Findings
- In 2016, Utah had a 24.6 percent increase in crash fatalities from the previous year, recording 281 total annual deaths.
- Although large truck and pedestrian fatalities sharply dropped, all other vehicle categories had a significant increase in deaths, with the highest being light trucks – a 36 percent increase from 2015.
- 30 percent of all crash fatalities involved those in the 25-44 age range.
- 58 fatalities involved alcohol – roughly 21 percent of all crash fatalities in the state.
Why We Did This
At Feller & Wendt, LLC, our Layton car accident lawyers understand that improving driver safety in Utah does not come with knowing general crash fatality data. By viewing fatal crash data under a microscope, we have a clearer picture of the issues that may be found on Utah’s roads – and may, hopefully, use these insights to effect positive changes in state driver safety programs.
We believe presenting this data as such may be the first step to making Utah’s roadways safer for everyone.
