Utah highway troopers say they’ve seen some interesting trends since adopting a new definition of road rage and enhancing penalties for offenses last year.
The state averaged a little more than 770 road rage crashes every year between 2019 and 2024, including 77 serious crashes in which road rage is suspected. There were also 124 fatal road rage crashes over that time, according to data the Utah Highway Patrol presented to the Utah Legislature’s Transportation Interim Committee on Tuesday.
Some early trends were discovered within those fatal cases:
- Male drivers account for nearly nine out of 10 road rage fatalities since 2019, while drivers 24 or younger account for nearly 40% of at-fault drivers in such cases, the agency pointed out.
- Springtime — for some reason — appears to be when there’s an uptick in road rage fatalities. May and April are the top two months in fatal road rage cases since 2019, accounting for about 28% of cases.
- Sunday is the top day in cases, accounting for 22%, and cases are slightly more common in the daytime.
- Nearly 30% had some sort of drug in their system, and 14% had alcohol.
Last year’s law change netted 148 enhanced charges from 93 cases statewide. Some drivers faced more than one violation in a case, and multiple drivers ended up qualifying for the enhancement in a single case, UHP Col. Michael Rapich told members of the committee.
Those trends, he explained, could result in new programs that seek to reduce road rage cases.
“What we hope, with that data moving forward, is taking that arrest data and that conviction data, and then developing some platforms where we can actually drill it down … and (see) who’s involved, what other violations are involved,” Rapich said. “Was alcohol involved? Was domestic violence involved? What are all some of the contributing factors, which would really, really, really guide our outreach?”
Unlicensed drivers
This data analysis could also spark future legislation. Authorities presented their findings on a few other traffic safety trends that could be used to guide future bills that seek to address growing concerns.
UHP also reported that while statewide crashes have decreased somewhat since 2019, crashes involving unlicensed drivers have skyrocketed. Unlicensed drivers were involved in 2,662 of 64,594 crashes (4%) statewide in 2019. That number jumped to 7,401 of the 59,437 crashes (12%) in 2024.
It’s unclear why that’s the case, but a mix of reasons go into the number of unlicensed drivers, ranging from never obtaining a license to having one that has been suspended, Rapich pointed out. The spike began in 2020, which he said could be tied to the COVID-19 pandemic in some way, but the number has remained much higher than in 2019 since that spike.
“This is telling, but I’d like to know what percent of drivers don’t have licenses,” said Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, as he analyzed the data. “If that’s also (12%), that’s a lot.”
The problem right now is that it’s nearly impossible to know who is or isn’t licensed on the road until there is some sort of “interaction,” said Chris Caras, director of the Driver License Division for the Utah Department of Public Safety. An interaction means a crash or any time a driver is pulled over.
Officials said they may compile a more detailed report on the number of unlicensed drivers based on issues such as speeding, which could help identify how many people are driving without an active license in the future.
A rise in motorcycle deaths
Troopers have already voiced their concerns this year about a troubling trend regarding motorcycle fatalities, especially after July became the deadliest month for fatalities since the state began tracking motorcycle death data. As of Thursday, there have been 53 fatalities statewide, matching the total for all of last year, which was the highest total since at least 2016.
“We are seeing a significant bad trend in motorcycle fatalities,” said UHP Maj. Jeff Nigbur, pointing out that traffic fatalities are down about 2% statewide, but motorcycle deaths are up 30% at the current rate.
There isn’t one trend that jumps out in why this has gone up. Speeding — either by the motorcyclist or another involved vehicle — was a factor in nearly 40% of crashes, while about 20% involved a driver over the age of 62. Failing to yield the right of way (15%) and failing to keep in the proper lane (13%) are the top contributing factors in fatal crashes, so far.
Education could be a factor, as well, Nigbur said. Nearly two-thirds of riders involved in fatal crashes didn’t have a motorcycle license endorsement, and approximately 90% had not taken a motorcycle safety course.
“That’s probably some improvement that we can do there, as it relates to motorcycles,” he said.
Other odds and ends
The agency was also asked to present on a few other traffic safety items, including the brightness of headlights and red light or speeding cameras.
UHP officials said they believe headlight brightness is a safety issue, but it is challenging to enforce right now, mainly because of equipment needs and differences in policy across neighboring states. They said it will likely require better coordination with different states and the federal government before there are any changes in enforcement.
They also offered some insight into red light and speeding cameras, which many other states have adopted. Troopers said it could reduce red light violations and crashes, and better enforce both issues, but they note many people believe they’re adopted to increase revenue through fines and citations, so they recommended better outreach about the safety benefits before adopting any changes there.