It might not be the gift we were asking for but Utah was given a wonderful present just before Christmas. Utah Department of Transportation reported that we had a 10 consecutive day stretch with zero fatalities on the road. As a state we have not gone more the than seven days without road fatalities since January 2016. John Gleason, the public information officer for UDOT, implores the public, “This is something that we can do. We just had 10 days without anyone dying on our roads. And if we can do 10 days, why can’t we do another 10 days?” Distractions are a big part of the problem, as are not wearing seatbelts. Even though 88% of drivers wear their seatbelts, it’s the 12% that do not wear them that is the number one cause of death. “In 2018, we shouldn’t have to have this conversation anymore,” Gleason said. “But that’s still the number one cause of deaths on our roads — people not buckling up.”
