Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden said to be alert and slow down

By Hanna Seariac

So far this year, there have been five fatal instances of wrong-way driving in Utah — one lower than last year’s final total of fatal instances.

That’s according to Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Cameron Roden, who talked to the Deseret News about why officials are concerned about wrong-way driving.

Early Thursday, a Riverton man was killed after allegedly driving the wrong way on I-15, according to a release from Utah’s Department of Public Safety. The truck collided with a bus carrying Army Reserve cadets. The driver of the bus received nonfatal injuries.

“This crash today is still under investigation,” Roden said. “There’s no immediate tie to impaired driving, but, of course, we will look at that through our investigation.”

During his monthly press conference, media asked Gov. Spencer Cox about the fatal crash. While the crash is still under investigation and does not currently have ties to impaired driving, Cox spoke about the importance of not drinking and driving.

“Every single fatality we’ve had so far, there has been impairment, either drugs, alcohol or both,” Cox said about previous instances of wrong-way driving.

Roden said that “a good majority of these crashes are impaired drivers.”

A matter of seconds could make a difference. Roden said it’s important to look at the road ahead, be alert and limit distractions, so that you have time to react to a wrong-way driver.

Roden also advised that if you see a wrong-way driver that you slow down as much as possible. “A lot of these crashes we are seeing happen toward the left-hand side of the road,” he said. “And so, if you see a wrong-way vehicle coming and can maneuver to the right, get over to the right and stop.”

“Each situation is so unique and independent,” Roden emphasized. “Some of these crashes are very violent and sudden.” Drivers sometimes do not have enough time to react due to this.

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2024/03/21/wrong-way-driving/