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UDOT reports decline in traffic fatalities, highlights lighting and targeted actions
Summary
UDOT operations director Troy Peterson presented 2024 crash and fatality trends to the commission, citing declines in several categories and urging continued investment in lighting, engineering and enforcement to reach zero fatalities.
Troy Peterson, operations director at the Utah Department of Transportation, told the UDOT Commission on March 28 that 2024 showed a favorable trend in several categories of traffic fatalities but that vulnerable users still accounted for a large share.
Peterson said the department’s year-to-date fatality rate for 2025 stood at 0.55 and that 2024’s data showed 68% of fatalities occurred on state routes. “We’re sitting right now. Our our fatality rate for for 2025, we’re sitting at 0.55,” Peterson said during his presentation. He identified the leading crash types as roadway departures and listed behavior categories—unrestrained occupants, impairment, distraction and aggressive driving—as frequent contributors to fatal crashes.
The presentation included breakdowns by road type, age group and lighting conditions. Peterson said motorcycle fatalities climbed in 2024 and that most pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities occurred in urban areas. On lighting, he noted that 14 pedestrian fatalities occurred in locations that were dark but lighted and 12 occurred in dark, unlighted locations.
Carlos Preceros, UDOT executive director, linked some of the department’s recent safety work to legislative and program decisions. “That was what drove our effort with the legislature to try to get more lighting and help take over some of the responsibilities for lighting where the locals have that responsibility,” Preceros said, referring to a recent push to fund intersection and corridor lighting improvements.
Commissioners and staff discussed the constellation of actions—engineering, education, enforcement and emergency response—that together reduce fatalities. Peterson emphasized that some crash causes are random and that planning uses multi-year trends rather than single-year spikes. He closed by reiterating five safe-driving behaviors—seat belts, sober, focused, calm and alert—that the department emphasizes in outreach.
UDOT said the fatality and serious-injury targets are set relative to vehicle miles traveled; staff recommended continued investment in targeted capital projects such as lighting and roadway departure countermeasures, and in enforcement and public information campaigns.
