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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A total of 256 people died on Utah roadways in 2014, up 16 percent from the previous year, according to a report by the Utah Department of Transportation.
It represents Utah's highest death toll since 2008 and reverses a trend that saw fatalities drop 41 percent during the previous 13 years.
"We've lost our progress," Jason Davis, operations director for the transportation department, told the Utah Transportation Commission on Friday, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.
Preliminary numbers show aggressive driving resulted in 68 deaths while drunken or impaired driving was a factor in 26 deaths, the report says.
Transportation department spot checks show 83 percent of people wear seat belts, but nearly half of all people killed in Utah accidents last year were not wearing them.
Under state law, police can't cite motorists for not wearing a seat belt unless they pull drivers over for a separate violation. State Rep. Lee Perry, R-Perry, a Utah Highway Patrol lieutenant, is pushing a bill to allow ticketing solely for not wearing seat belts.
"We're looking at preventable crashes, preventable fatalities," Utah Highway Patrol Sgt. Todd Royce told the Deseret News.
Of the total increase of 36 deaths last year, 25 involved motorcyclists, pedestrians and bicyclists. Motorcycle deaths climbed from 31 to 45, pedestrian deaths increased from 31 to 39 and bicycle deaths rose from six to nine.
State law does not require motorcyclists to wear helmets. Past efforts to pass a mandatory helmet law in Utah have failed amid arguments it interferes with personal freedom.
"It's still pretty clear that helmets are an issue with motorcycles" and the increasing number of deaths involving them, Transportation Commission Chairman Jeffrey Holt said.
The transportation department partly attributes the increase in overall fatalities to an improving economy that has resulted in more travelers.
"Unfortunately, it turns into a math game," Davis said. "You get more exposure and more opportunity for crashes. So the numbers tend to creep up."
Utah fatalities dropped from 373 in 2000 to 220 in 2013, a 41 percent decline, The Tribune reported.
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