Skip to content

Thursday December 05, 2024 Salt Lake City, UT

TOP STORY

Highway Safety

Protecting Utah

UHP Thanksgiving Enforcement Plans and Travel Tips

Wednesday November 21, 2018

A UHP Charger is juxtaposed with sunset behind the mountains in section 1.

YOU AND 54 MILLION OTHERS

AAA says that if you’re planning to travel more than 50 miles away from home this Thanksgiving weekend, you’ll be one of more than 54 million Americans making a similar journey.

UDOT expects increased southbound traffic on Wednesday between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., while northbound traffic should be heavier between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

So you can expect travel volume to be heavy at times this weekend.


OUR WEEKEND PLANS

Troopers will be out and about this weekend, too – working overtime to help make sure everyone gets where they’re going safely.

UHP troopers will work over 210 extra shifts focused on seat belts, speeding, distracted driving, drowsy driving and impaired driving over the Thanksgiving holiday.


TRAVEL TIPS TO HELP YOU GET HOME SAFELY

Last year in Utah over the Thanksgiving weekend, 13 people died on our road ways.

This year, we want that number to be zero.

You can help us achieve that goal by making safe driving a priority.

Below we’ve got some tips and information to help you get home safely.


WINTER IS COMING

raveling this Thanksgiving Holiday? Expect good travel weather Tuesday and Wednesday and again on Sunday within the state of Utah. However, some stormy weather will occur from Thanksgiving through Saturday, mainly across the north.

The National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City prepared the graphic above – and as you can see, there’s some rain and snow in the forecast.

If the roads are wet, snowy or icy, SLOW DOWN and INCREASE YOUR FOLLOWING DISTANCE.

Remember, ice and snow, take it slow.

We’ve got much more winter driving advice on our winter driving website – click here to visit it.


CLICK IT OR TICKET ENFORCEMENT

Officers from law enforcement agencies throughout the state will be working over 275 extra seat belt enforcement shifts over the holiday weekend.

You never know what will happen out on the road, and your seat belt can make a life saving difference if you’re involved in a crash.

Make sure everyone in your vehicle buckles up – every trip, every time!

Watch this family’s story for a reminder of how important seat belts are.


PARTNERING WITH COLORADO STATE PATROL

UHP and Colorado State Patrol are partnering to help increase safety on Utah's roadways during the Thanksgiving travel period.

During the Thanksgiving weekend, UHP and the Colorado State Patrol are partnering to help make sure everyone gets where they’re going safely.

The agencies announced the partnership at a press event in Fruita, Colorado.

Motorists can expect to see extra UHP Troopers as well as Colorado State Patrol Troopers on patrol.


Drive Sober

Great food, family, friends, football – there are a lot of reasons to celebrate this weekend.

If your weekend plans include consuming alcohol, make sure they also include a safe and sober ride home.

Our Troopers will be out looking for, detecting and removing impaired drivers from our roads.

Get a taxi, an Uber, a Lyft – if you’ve been drinking, don’t drive.

Drive sober or get pulled over


Don’t Speed

Speeding is the leading unsafe driving behavior that leads to deaths and is one of the leading factors contributing to traffic crashes.

Speeding endangers not only the life of the speeder and his/her passengers, but all of the people on the road around them.

 

Don't exceed the speed limit - picture of cars driving south on the 15 in southern Utah


Drive Alert

Whether it’s the turkey or just a long distance drive, if you start to get sleepy behind the wheel, it’s time to switch drivers or take a break.

This video shares a story about the tragic consequences of drowsy driving when some BYU students were traveling for Thanksgiving


Phones Down

Taking your eyes off the road for even a second can have tragic consequences.

Leave the navigation, phone calls and texts to a passenger.

Keep your focus on the road.

This short dash cam video from a distracted driving crash 3 years ago shows how quickly a crash can happen.


Move Over for Emergency Vehicles

We’ll be out there on the road shoulder assisting motorists.

So will other first responders and tow truck drivers.

Help give us the space we need to safely do our jobs – slow down and move over a lane.

Move over for emergency vehicles


SHARE THIS STORY

More Videos in this Series

Motorcyclist Killed on I-80

June 20, 2020

Fatal Crash: San Juan County on SR-191 at Milepost 78

May 11, 2020

Utah’s New Lane Filtering Law

May 8, 2019

More from the News Room

Test

August 2024

Our News Has Moved

July 2024

I-80 Fatal Motorcycle Crash (Updated 6/25/24)

June 2024