Police plead for safety on eve of deadly holiday weekend

MURRAY — She wondered if she would cry, but the tears never came.

Like all her fellow Utah Highway Patrol officers, trooper Amy Fallows has the unenviable duty of informing people when a family member dies in a traffic accident.

The first time she came face to face with a victim's wife, Fallows realized her message would change the woman's life forever.

"It was so weird to think that when I told them, their lives would never be the same," Fallows recalls as she guides her patrol cruiser through freeway traffic. "The wife was expecting

her husband to be coming home from work right about that time. Instead, she had us knocking on her door."

Antiseptically called a "notification," the task makes deadly accidents all the more personal for the dozens of officers who respond to crashes on Utah's roads.

Fallows will be among the ranks of officers this July 24 weekend — routinely one of the two deadliest weekends of the year for Utah drivers along with July Fourth.

As she patrols her area in her cruiser with a license plate frame that says "Don't Drive Stupid," Fallows says the holiday weekend brings an additional workload — and a greater risk that she could be making another notification.

The July 24 weekend falls in the middle of what law enforcement officials call the "100 Deadliest Days of the Year," the days between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the highest number of deadly traffic accidents occur.

In the past 45 days, 41 people have died on Utah roads, said UHP Superintendent Daniel Fuhr.

"That is a sobering fact," he said. "We measure success by the number of lives saved. Even one death is too much."

Many, if not most deadly traffic accidents are "100 percent preventable," Fuhr said, with many accidents involving only a single car.

As Utahns take to the road for the holiday weekend, Fuhr urged attention to basic safety measures:

Drivers should stay rested and not drive when drowsy, should avoid aggressive moves, and never drive under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

In addition to driving at a safe speed, Fuhr also pleaded with drivers to use their seat belts. Use of seat belts is one of the single biggest factors in whether people survive a crash, he said.