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Utah traffic deaths fell in 2023; state targets road rage after ‘sharp’ spike in cases

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Utah traffic deaths fell in 2023; state targets road rage after ‘sharp’ spike in cases


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SALT LAKE CITY — The number of people who died on Utah roads fell again in 2023 after a large spike over the past three years. But an alarming rise in road rage cases also emerged that Utah transportation and safety leaders say they want to eliminate in 2024.

Last year, 279 people died on Utah roads, nearly a 13% decrease from the previous year, according to preliminary data released by the Utah Department of Transportation and Department of Public Safety on Tuesday. The number of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles driven also dropped from 0.93 to 0.80, the lowest since 2019.

Utah Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson said the data included several other welcomed year-to-year declines, including a 22% drop in deaths tied to people not wearing seat belts, a 10% decline in speed-related deaths and a 6% decrease in impaired-related deaths, as well as drops in motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian deaths.

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The number of children ages 0-9 who died in crashes dropped from 12 in 2022 to four in 2023, but the number of fatalities in children age 10 and older rose slightly from 32 to 38. It was about the only major increase last year.

The overall decrease in fatalities, Anderson says, is more than just a statistic.

“These are lives and lives that we are affecting anytime we can make a difference,” he said.

Utah’s roadway fatalities were on a downward trajectory before an uptick in 2020. Roadway fatalities reached 332 in 2021, which was, at the time, the first time that more than 300 people were killed on Utah roads since 2003. There was a slight 4% decrease in road fatalities in 2022 before an even larger drop last year.

Tackling road rage

While aggressive-related fatalities also fell, from 28 in 2022 to 23 in 2023, Anderson said police continue to see a “sharp increase” in aggressive driving behaviors that put other drivers and other roadway users at risk. This includes a rising number of cases involving weapons and intentional crashes.

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“The issue with road rage is serious and it affects everyone on the road. It can lead to dangerous situations, crashes and increased stress when driving,” he said. “That type of aggression is not tolerated or allowed here in the state of Utah.”

Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson speaks as the Utah Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety hold a press conference launching a new anti-road rage campaign in Salt Lake City on Tuesday.
Department of Public Safety Commissioner Jess Anderson speaks as the Utah Department of Transportation and the Department of Public Safety hold a press conference launching a new anti-road rage campaign in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

To that end, UDOT and Department of Public Safety officials launched a new public service campaign that focuses solely on road rage after similar PSAs targeted other unsafe behaviors like speeding and impaired driving in recent years.

The new Blink of an Eye campaign, which will be promoted through various broadcast forms, encourages drivers to remain calm and patient on the roadways, while also highlighting the consequences of road rage behavior.

Kristen Hoschouer, UDOT’s safety outreach administrator, said the friends and family of Rodney Salm, a Salt Lake man who was killed when the vehicle he was driving was struck by another vehicle engaged in a reported road rage incident in Eagle Mountain last year, helped UDOT create the ad.

“This video illustrates some of the real-life ramifications that can happen when you engage in road rage behaviors,” Hoschouer said.

Officials note that mental health is often a key component in road rage cases. Depression, anxiety, fear and frustration are some of the emotions someone may feel when an incident — intentional or accidental — can spark anger and lead to road rage, said Amanda McNab, the quality improvement and training manager at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute.

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The new campaign provides a handful of tips for drivers to consider when they begin to feel anger. These include:

  • Take deep breaths and remind yourself to stay patient. McNab said this can allow enough time for someone to think about the consequences of certain actions, while also helping them cool down.
  • Practice other relaxation techniques like tapping on a steering wheel or playing upbeat or calming music.
  • Limit distractions to stay focused on the road.
  • Avoid tailgating, weaving in and out of traffic, cutting off drivers or other aggressive driving behaviors that can provoke other drivers.
  • Practice courtesy on the road and do not retaliate after an incident.

“We want to make sure that people on the roadways have the opportunity to release that in a positive way, utilizing some of the same coping skills that we suggest using when dealing with those same feelings and emotions outside of being in a car,” McNab said.

Road rage also figures to be one of the many topics handled during the upcoming legislative session. Utah lawmakers unveiled a proposal in November that calls for stiffer penalties for road rage cases. These include the possibility of license revocation.

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Carter Williams is an award-winning reporter who covers general news, outdoors, history and sports for KSL.com.

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas

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911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas


CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.

LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.

Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.

The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.

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MORE | Murder-Suicide

Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.

10:33 a.m. — Call 1

After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.

Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.

“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”

11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3

As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.

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“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”

11:26 a.m. — Call 4

Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.

“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”

She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.

Police indicated officers were on the way.

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2:26 p.m. — Call 5

Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.

Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.

“They found a note on the door.”

2:35 p.m. — Call 6

Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.

“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”

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A dispatcher responded:

“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”

2:36 p.m. — Call 7

Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:

“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”

2:39 p.m. — Call 8

Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.

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“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”

He repeats the details he knows for the second time.

3:13 p.m. — Call 9

Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.

“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”

Dispatch responded:

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“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”

4:05 p.m. — Call 10

More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.

“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”

The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.

Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.

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The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.

5:23 p.m. — Call 11

Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.

“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”

She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.

Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference

Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.

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The investigation remains ongoing.

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing

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Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing


AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”

Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.

“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.

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Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.

“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.

2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:

  • Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
  • Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
  • Does it support a ban from classrooms?

Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.

“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.

MORE | Utah State Legislature:

Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.

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“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.

“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.

The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state

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Kalshi sues Utah over efforts to stop prop betting in the state


SALT LAKE CITY — A prediction market is suing Utah over plans to regulate proposition betting that it says would run afoul of federal regulations.

Kalshi is a New York-based prediction market that allows users to place “event contracts” on future outcomes and earn a payout if they are correct. Those transactions are regulated through the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, the company said Utah has plans to prevent the company from offering contracts in the state and asked the courts to block any enforcement that “interferes with the operation and function of plaintiffs’ futures market.”

“Plaintiff KalshiEX LLC believes the governor of Utah and the Attorney General’s Office of Utah will imminently bring an enforcement action against Kalshi with the intent to prevent Kalshi from offering event contracts for trading on its federally regulated exchange,” the complaint states. “Defendants have repeatedly represented that they believe Kalshi is operating unlawfully under Utah anti-gambling laws.”

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The lawsuit points to a couple of posts from Gov. Spencer Cox and an op-ed written by Attorney General Derek Brown in the Deseret News on Sunday. After Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Mike Selig announced that his agency would “defend its exclusive jurisdiction” over prediction markets last week, Cox took to X calling the markets “gambling — pure and simple.”

“They are destroying the lives of families and countless Americans, especially young men,” he wrote. “They have no place in Utah. Let me be clear, I will use every resource within my disposal as governor of the sovereign state of Utah, and under the Constitution of the United States to beat you in court.”

He followed that up last Thursday, saying Utah is “ready to defend our laws in court and protect Utahns from companies that drive addiction, isolation and serious financial harm.”

In his op-ed, Brown argued that prediction markets are “the newest iteration of gambling” and said he didn’t see a difference between betting and trading futures.

“Although traditional sports betting apps are illegal under Utah law, these platforms argue that they merely allow users to hedge their risk,” he wrote. “But what is the real risk to hedge when you are simply predicting whether LeBron James will score more or less than another player? It’s simply a bet, dressed up in different clothing.”

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The lawsuit also comes as the state Legislature is advancing a bill that would clarify that proposition betting — or betting placed on specific players or events during games — falls under the state’s definition of gambling, which is prohibited by the Utah Constitution. HB243 has passed the House and a Senate committee and is awaiting consideration on the Senate floor.

But Kalshi says its contracts are lawful thanks to a carveout in Utah’s anti-gambling laws that allows for “lawful business.” Its lawsuit claims Kalshi’s attorneys made “multiple attempts” to contact Brown about potential action against the company but were “met with silence, even though the Utah AG had previously been willing to communicate with counsel.”

Asked about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Senate President Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he is “standing with the governor on this one.”

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.



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