Memorial Day weekend marks beginning of ‘100 Deadliest Days’ of driving

ST. GEORGE — A recent uptick in the number of fatal crashes on Utah’s roads signals that the Beehive State is already on a deadly path as the start of the annual span of time known as “100 Deadliest Days of Summer” begins.

Total number of people killed during the 100 Deadliest Days of Summer across Utah from 2012 through 2020 | Image courtesy of Zero Fatalities Utah, St. George News

Historically, fatal crashes nearly double in the summer compared to the rest of the year, which is why the 100 Deadliest Days – a three-month period when more people are killed in crashes than any other period of the year – is designated as the span between Memorial Day and Labor Day, according to Zero Fatalities Utah.

Moreover, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the second and third deadliest holidays to drive, but so far this year in Utah, crashes are up by more than 5,000 since last year: in 2020, there were 18,012; this year, there have been 23,018 within the same period.

Agencies across the state have expanded enforcement efforts by adding extra troopers, and deputies and officers have joined forces to address the main contributors to fatal crashes: speed, seat belt use, distracted and impaired driving, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Nick Street told St. George News in a previous interview.

The same holds true as the holiday weekend opens, and UHP troopers are out in full force.

“Be sure to slow down, buckle up, check your vehicle for any issues, drive sober and put down the distractions,” the agency said Thursday in a statement.

Additionally, law enforcement agencies statewide have also implemented increased DUI enforcement. Interestingly, the number of impaired drivers involved in fatal crashes also saw a spike last year – with 138 people killed in 2020 compared to 109 killed the year before, according to Zero Fatalities Utah. 

It is the fatal crashes that many law enforcement officers say represent one of the most difficult parts of the job, and with the Virgin River Gorge being an area of particular concern for Southern Utah drivers, Arizona Department of Public Safety Trooper Thomas Callister said there are times when more than one of the top four factors listed above come into play with deadly consequences.

A recent fatal crash on Interstate 15 just south of St. George accurately illustrates that very issue, he said, when they responded to the scene of a rollover and found a white pickup truck several yards off the shoulder with a driver who was dead.

The driver, who was not restrained at the time, was thrown from the vehicle and the truck rolled over on top of him.

Also at the scene, troopers found beer cans strewn all over the shoulder, and the investigation later revealed the driver was intoxicated and going nearly 100 mph when he went off the road and rolled.

“So you’ve got speeding, intoxication and not wearing a seat belt together in one crash that went fatal,” Callister said.

Buckling up

Total number of unrestrained occupants killed in crashes across Utah from 2012 through 2020 | Image courtesy of Zero Fatalities Utah, St. George News

While some believe buckling up is just a personal decision and affects only that person, the reality is it affects everyone in the vehicle and other motorists and their passengers on the road, according to Zero Fatalities Utah.

Callister, who has worked on nearly 100 fatal crashes during his 16-year career – many of which take place on Interstate 15 through the Virgin River Gorge, said there is nothing more difficult than having a deceased driver in the median and one of their children lying dead next to them, knowing that both could have survived the crash if a single factor was different.

“It is absolutely heart-wrenching to know they could have lived through the crash if only they had been buckled up,” he said.

The national rate for seat belt use has reached more than 90%, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says; but even so, of the more than 14,000 passengers killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2019 – nearly half were not properly restrained.

That percentage of unrestrained occupants has remained unchanged for years even after decades of safety programs, traffic campaigns, thousands of commercials, press conferences, simulated crash videos with dummies flying all over the vehicle and the list goes on.

Despite the national effort to promote highway safety, not buckling up is still the most common contributing factor to roadway fatalities, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration says.

White Toyota Camry is demolished in head-on crash involving a wrong-way driver on northbound Interstate 15 at the Speedway in Las Vegas, Nev., March 13, 2021 | Photo courtesy of the Nevada Highway Patrol, St. George News

That effort has gone far beyond safety campaigns and has been an integral part of vehicle manufacturing as well.

“Thanks to all of the safety features that come standard in vehicle manufacturing  – most crashes are now survivable,” Callister said. “But it all starts with buckling up.”

In fact, advancements in vehicle safety, including the integration of airbag technology, work in concert with seat belt use – otherwise any occupant who is unrestrained during a crash can be thrown into a rapidly opening frontal air bag with enough force it can kill them.

Callister said even if every other occupant is buckled up during a rollover, one unrestrained occupant increases the risk of being killed for everyone in the vehicle.

This is because the unrestrained occupant becomes “a missile” during a rollover, he said, and is thrown around the vehicle with enough force to kill anyone in the vehicle – seat belted or not.

The bottom line is: seat belt use isn’t just a personal decision; it affects everyone in the vehicle and others on the road.

“I’ve been to fatal crashes where that seat belt is completely mangled and destroyed – but it still kept that person inside of that vehicle and alive, which is better than the alternative,” Callister said.

As law enforcement officers continue their efforts toward a goal of zero fatalities on Utah’s roadways, Street said that it just comes back to the basics. He urged drivers to slow down, pay attention to the roadway and wear their seat belts, and for motorcyclists to wear helmets.

Street also reminded those who feel impaired to not drive “under any circumstances – which means never.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2021, all rights reserved.

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