Utah roads are safer overall now than a decade ago.
The Utah Highway Safety Office recently released its 2011 Annual Report, which includes information on annual safety programs and charts state traffic figures that show a downward trend in the number of traffic fatalities on Utah roadways.
Overall, the safety office reports an increase in seat belt usage, a decrease in alcohol-related deaths and a decrease in teen driving fatalities. However, speed-related fatalities remain constant.
The report includes traffic safety figures through Dec. 31, 2010. The office will not release the official 2011 figures until the spring, but has year-to-date information available.
Traffic fatalities in the state have gone from 291 deaths in 2001 to 253 in 2010. Utah Highway Safety Office Research Analyst Gary Mower said as of Wednesday, there were 243 traffic fatalities in the state in 2011.
In Top of Utah, the number of 2011 fatalities total eight in Box Elder County, 13 in Davis County, three in Morgan County and 17 in Weber County, Mower said.
The report also shows that the number of injuries in traffic accidents dropped from 29,375 in 2001 to 22,847 in 2010.
Law enforcement officials have seen the improvements firsthand.
"We do see the trend downward and we are pleased with that, but there are still people dying, and we have a long way to go," Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Todd Johnson said. "We want to see the downward trend continue and see additional lives saved."
Johnson said safety is a top focus of leaders of the Highway Patrol and drivers are warned to maintain proper speeds, maintain safe following distances and make proper lane changes.
He also asks drivers to be aware of the increase in technology available to them while they are behind the wheel.
"They are important, we rely on them," Johnson said, "but we need to be mindful while we're driving."
Ogden Police Lt. Eric Young said 2011 was a good year for drivers in Ogden too.
"We see almost as many nonmoving violations as we see moving violations," said Young, who oversees the department's traffic enforcement.
In Ogden, the focus has shifted to people on foot instead of behind the wheel.
"Our high numbers of fatalities are pedestrian," Young said, and it is not necessarily the fault of drivers.
Pedestrians need to watch where they cross, Young said, and dark areas where drivers cannot see them, as well as high traffic areas and streets with high speed limits.
"People fail to see how dangerous it could be to be out on the roadway," he said.
Young said his officers are good at tracking and evaluating traffic problems and they work to make improvements.
"So our focus right now is trying to rectify auto-pedestrian incidents," Young said.
The traffic improvements have occurred at the same time that more people are on the road.
"We've seen a decrease in deaths while we see an increase in driving," Mower said.
Utah drivers have gone from traveling 23.3 billion miles a year in 2001 to 26.6 billion miles in 2010.
Mower cannot pinpoint a specific improvement that has made state roads safer.
"It's a variety of things. There's things such as traffic safety programs that have increased awareness," Mower said.
There is now legislation that targets use of seat belts, child safety seats and impaired driving, Mower said, as well as improvements in roadway engineering, advancements in medical treatment and increased safety features in automobiles. There are also media and law enforcement programs that target driver behavior.
"Certainly you would hope some of the decrease in deaths is because of improvement in people's driving behavior," Mower said.
The safety office compiles traffic figures from reports written by city, county and state law enforcement agencies. Utah has compiled traffic safety figures since 1947.
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