Overall fatality rates on Utah's freeways have gone down, yet deaths caused by drunken drivers in Utah increased by more than 50 percent last year.

But, "compared to the rest of the nation, Utah still has the lowest alcohol-related fatalities on roads," said Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Nile Easton. In a 10-year average of 330 deaths per year on Utah's roads, he said just 15 percent are attributed to alcohol.

During the past 10 years, there has been an overall 43 percent decline in alcohol-related deaths in Utah, he said.

In 2003, 17 deaths on Utah's roads were related to alcohol, including those intoxicated and those killed by drunken drivers, according to Utah's Traffic Safety Department. The number increased in 2004 as 27 alcohol-related deaths were reported in Utah. "We had a big problem with alcohol-related deaths before the laws were put in place," Easton said. "Culture also plays a big part in it." The state of Utah reports the nation's lowest per capita alcohol consumption.

In 1983, Utah became the first state to set the legal driving limit of .08 blood-alcohol concentration. Several states followed suit, with Minnesota just last week becoming the last state to do so.

Drowsy driving continues to be the greatest cause of fatalities on Utah's roads, while excessive speed is second in claiming lives on roadways.

Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Wade Brewer said troopers work with UDOT in three areas — education, enforcement and engineering — to ensure safety on Utah's roads. Educational programs and more public presentations, he said, inform the public of the dangers that face drivers, while enforcement keeps unsafe drivers off the roads and attention to engineering concerns allows for routine road improvements.

For example, Brewer said the cable median installed on Interstate 215 and in Utah County has reduced the number of vehicle crossovers significantly.

"It keeps cars on the right side of the road," he said.

In addition to physical improvements, Brewer said Utah employs a full-time squad that works exclusively on aggressive DUI enforcement.

"They work nights and weekends, in the evening hours when there is a high probability of drunk drivers," he said. "They are very successful and have a near 100 percent conviction rate."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 42,636 people died on the nation's highways in 2004, a decrease of 248, nearly 1 percent from the previous year. Two hundred ninety-six died on Utah's roads in 2004, 4 percent less than in 2003. Safety groups attributed the decrease to all 50 states moving toward a uniform standard for drunken driving and to high-visibility enforcement, which includes sobriety checkpoints.