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Winter Weather Causes Havoc on Utah Roadways

Brian Grimmett

A winter storm brought a white Christmas to many Utahns, but it also caused havoc on the roads. The Utah Highway Patrol is reporting that on Christmas day there were 63 accidents in Salt Lake County, 61 in Utah County, and 16 in Davis County.

Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce says while that’s a lot of crashes, it could have been worse.

“Early on Christmas morning when this storm hit there were very few people on the roadway, if it would have been during a commute it would have probably been significantly more,” he says.

Sgt. Royce says the best thing drivers can do during the winter to stay safe is plan ahead.

“If you know that a storm’s coming in, make sure to give yourself plenty of time, slow down, increase your following distances," he says. "If you happen to get in a crash and you’re on the interstate, and you’re not injured, and your car is movable, we suggest that you move to off the interstate.”

While several of the accidents on Christmas day caused injuries, most of them were minor, and nobody died

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