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Utah's I-80: Speed Kills

Wikimedia Commons

Even as highway fatalities have been going down across Utah, they've been going up on Interstate 80 through Utah's West Desert from Lakepoint to Wendover. A big reason for that is excessive speed. Dwayne Baird with the Utah Department of Public Safety says troopers have written more than 400 citations this year for vehicles going 100 miles an hour or more. In a few cases, drivers have been caught doing 150.

"Lots of bad things happen in a hurry," Baird says, "when your vehicle leaves the road at 150 miles an hour, things you can't control. And you won't be able to control and you're not likely to survive in a crash at that speed."

Drunk driving and failure to wear seat belts have also been factors in fatal accidents. The Highway Patrol plans to have extra troopers on I-80 through the last two weeks of the year.

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