Much has been said about safety improvements along U.S. 6, but this has been the worst year for fatal crashes on the 128-mile highway since 1998.

The Utah Department of Transportation reports 13 fatalities along the route this year, most being "cross-overs," where a motorist travels into an oncoming lane of traffic. On Sunday, three people traveling on U.S. 6 were killed when their car crossed the center line, collided head-on with a pickup truck and burst into flames.

The cause of the accident has yet to be determined. Kimball K. Childs, 46, Juanita Varela Childs, 46, and their son, Mason, 8, were killed in the crash.

Juanita Childs was a Spanish teacher at Carbon High School for the past 13 years, said Carbon School District superintendant David Armstrong.

Mason was a student at one of the district's elementary schools.

Eva Bennett, 54, and Jay Bennett, 55, both of West Valley City, were in the truck that was hit head-on by the Childs' car. The Bennetts were taken to Castleview Hospital in Price with injuries that were not considered to be life-threatening, according to the Utah Highway Patrol.

Robert Hull, UDOT director of traffic and safety, could not give a reason for the high number of fatal crashes on U.S. 6 this year. Last year, only five fatalities occurred on the road, and the average over the past four years has been about 10.

"The roadway has been built to the standards that are out there," he said. "Unfortunately with the nature of the road, in terms of being in a rural area, we end up getting into high-speed situations with impatient drivers, and poor decisions are made. Those conditions lend themselves in many cases to fatal crashes."

No crash on the road has ever been attributed to an unsafe road design, according to Hull. Since 1997, UDOT has spent $115 million to enhance the safety of the road, he said. Recent projects include the addition of center-line rumble strips, truck climbing lanes and an upgraded guardrail.

Sunday's accident occurred in an area where center-line rumble strips were installed.

Over the next two years, UDOT plans another $50 million in improvements to the road. Plans include the installation of overhead speed signs near the curve where a truck carrying explosives overturned in August, blowing a 70-foot deep crater into the road.

The signs will register the speed of a vehicle, then tell motorists to slow down if they are over the speed limit. "It is intended to give the drivers information to let them know they are approaching too quickly," Hull said.

Regardless of the improvements, Jenny Wheeler, a BYU employee originally from Ephraim, says she avoids U.S. 6 whenever possible. She and her family won't drive it during the winter.

"If I go on 6 at all, I think it's only once or twice a year," she said.

But for the 4,000 to 12,000 drivers who use U.S. 6 each day to commute, UDOT encourages safe and smart driving. Be patient, said UDOT spokesman Nile Easton. Don't speed or drive drowsy.

"U.S. 6 has been a priority for the department and will continue to be a priority," he said, "but there is still a responsibility for drivers when they get behind the wheel to follow traffic laws."

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E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com; jtwitchell@desnews.com