Danger, danger: Utah's rugged terrain invites disaster when you're not fit and prepared

You could fall off a cliff, get struck by lightning or drown in a lake.

Your horse could fall over on top of you, your ATV could flip or your car could crash.

Outside the relative comforts of your house, condo or apartment, the dangers of life are everywhere. But of all the places you could go in Utah — many being natural, rugged locales unique to the state — it may surprise you where you'll find the most potential perils.

"Home will be the most dangerous," says Cyndi Bemis, spokeswoman for the Utah Department of Health.

The list of pitfalls at home is seemingly endless — from poisonings that occur because someone poured a dangerous liquid from one container into another, which used to hold a perfectly safe beverage, to leaving a child unattended in a bathtub, if only for a moment.

Gary Mower, the health department's injury prevention coordinator, has heard it all — so much that he's quick to fire off a piece of advice that everyone should follow anywhere, any time.

"Try to anticipate how an injury or death might occur, and take steps to prevent it," Mower said.

As folks drive on the road, Mower said, they should be looking for where or how a potential crash might take place. Because people drive so often, they think it's routine, when it's always a complicated task that deserves more attention than it's given, he said.

"People don't realize how much damage that one mistake can do," Mower said.

Headlines pulled from the Deseret Morning News last August and September read: "11 died in Utah road crashes over the weekend" and "Deadly holiday: 10 die in 5 days on Utah's roads." In both news stories, drowsy driving and driver error were blamed for most of the wrecks.

"We preach and preach and have pitched major media campaigns, and people are still not driving smart," Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Ted Tingey said last September.

At this time of year, the snow-covered backcountry is a particular danger.

If skis and snowshoes are your preferred mode of transportation, you should know that the "Greatest snow on Earth" also may be the greatest danger in Utah's mountains.

Avalanches are the No. 1 cause of Utah deaths in the wild, with an average of four people being killed each winter season. Only Alaska and Colorado have more deaths by avalanches in the United States than Utah does.

"All of them are preventable," said Bruce Tremper, avalanche specialist with the U.S. Forest Service's Utah Avalanche Center.

He estimates half of all avalanche fatalities involve people who didn't know anything about the danger and just bumbled into it. The other half are fairly experienced people who ventured into avalanche-prone areas anyway.

Know your limits