U-Talk: Do you feel safe on Utah roads and highways?
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- Kevin Andrus
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- Brandon Boyd
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- Madine Shortman
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- Melissa Stulce
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- Roland Evans
Editor's note: U-Talk is a weekly feature in which we ask five local residents to tell us their thoughts about a particular issue. Responses may be edited for clarity and length.
"Yes. The roads are nicer than most states. The only drawback is that the people are worse drivers than most places. ... Here people are aggressive drivers compared to other places. I just try to drive more defensively around here." -- Kevin Andrus, Ogden
"I do most of the time. People will try to get in your way or cut you off. But I have been in worse traffic, like in California; people are bad down there. Here it is actually lenient. I also DoorDash, so I drive all around the place on the backroads and highways. ... I think that there could be more road work done. ... On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate the safety on the roads as a solid 4." -- Brandon Boyd, Ogden
"Sometimes, when there's not a lot of people on the roads. I have a longer commute now, and the more that I drive now, it is during rush-hour traffic. I haven't worried too much about distracted drivers. There are some selfish drivers, like people who don't let you merge or try to cut you off or won't let you in. ... I think that it is important to look out for pedestrians. Other than that, I think that it isn't too bad driving here." -- Madine Shortman, Ogden
"No. I had a woman walking down a street not too long ago, over on Canyon Road. There was a woman who was walking right down the middle of the street. She would not stop. I would go a little and then she would go a little, I would stop, and she would stop. Then, she started screaming at me calling me all sorts of horrible names. She saw where I turned into the grocery store and came and hit my car with her hand. People speed, they don't watch where they are going, they cut you off. ... I do not feel safe. I have been to other states, and they care what you think, they are going to care, and here I do not feel safe at all, not even as a pedestrian. I mean I was hit by a car as a pedestrian in 2005 and I suffered severe head damage because the gentleman was not watching where he was going." -- Melissa Stulce, Ogden
"Yeah, it doesn't concern me. Traffic is fine. It isn't like Southern California, where it is stop-and-go traffic. ... People should relax and enjoy life, rather than all the angry drivers. ... I would tell people to just smile and wave. There's no good reason to be upset about traffic." -- Roland Evans, Payson
Photos and interviews by Adam Rubin, Special to the Standard-Examiner.
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