Utah Crash Facts 2022

A Year in Review

  • Total Crashes: 58,992
  • Total Injuries: 25,325
  • Total Fatalities: 319

Crash Frequency

  • A crash occurred every 8.9 minutes.
  • A person was injured in a crash every 20.8 minutes.
  • A person died in a crash every 27.5 hours.

Where Crashes Happened

Crash Rates by County

The top five counties with the highest crash rates per 100 million vehicle miles traveled were:

  • 1. Cache
  • 2. Salt Lake
  • 3. Utah
  • 4. Weber
  • 5. Davis

Urban vs. Rural Crashes

  • The crash rate in urban areas was 213.6 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
  • The crash rate in rural areas was 76.4 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
  • As in the previous year, the fatal crash rate was higher in rural areas (0.99) compared to urban areas (0.81).

Crash Site & Conditions

  • Almost half of all crashes (49%) occurred at an intersection.
  • The vast majority of crashes (82%) occurred on dry roads.

When Crashes Happened

Day, Time, and Month

  • Busiest Day: Wednesday had the most crashes, with 9,922 incidents.
  • Peak Time of Day: The afternoon and evening commute, from 3 PM to 6 PM, saw the highest number of crashes.
  • Busiest Month: December had the most crashes for the year, with 6,084 incidents.

Why Crashes Happened

Top 5 Driver-Related Factors (All Crashes)

  1. Failed to Yield Right-of-Way (20%)
  2. Followed too Closely (19%)
  3. Speeding (14%)
  4. Failed to Keep in Proper Lane (13%)
  5. Unsafe Lane Change (8%)

Top 3 Driver-Related Factors (Fatal Crashes)

  1. Speeding (35%)
  2. Failed to Keep in Proper Lane (31%)
  3. Failed to Yield Right-of-Way (17%)

Unrestrained Occupants

Failure to wear a seatbelt continues to be a major factor in crash outcomes:

  • There were 2,065 unrestrained occupants in crashes.
  • Of those, 724 were injured.
  • Tragically, 89 unrestrained occupants were fatally injured.
  • A concerning 93 of the unrestrained occupants were children (age 0-12).

A Closer Look at the 319 Fatalities

Who Was Involved?

  • Drivers: 49% (155)
  • Passengers: 14% (45)
  • Motorcycle Drivers: 14% (46)
  • Pedestrians: 14% (45)
  • Bicyclists: 5% (15)
  • Personal Conveyance: 3% (9)
  • Motorcycle Passengers: 1% (4)

Demographics of Fatalities

  • Gender: For every 4 fatalities, 3 were male (75%) and 1 was female (25%).
  • Age: The 20-29 age group had the highest number of fatal crashes with 65 incidents.

Top Contributing Factors in Fatal Crashes

  • 45% of occupant deaths were Unrestrained.
  • 35% of deaths were Speed-Related.
  • 21% involved a Drunk Driver (BAC 0.05+).
  • 10% involved Aggressive Driving.
  • 7% involved Distracted Driving.