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Marc Giauque and Courtney Orton reporting The Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is hoping a couple of portable message boards along I-80 will help keep people alert and alive. It's a scoreboard, of sorts, tallying fatalities to date on the freeway.
One is posted near the Utah-Wyoming border, the other near Nevada. Both will keep a tally of the number of freeway deaths.
Last year, 285 people died on Utah roads. Eighteen of those deaths happened on I-80, and the majority of those are the result of single-car accidents where driver error was to blame. So far this year, there has been one fatality on I-80 and nine statewide.
The signs are strategically placed on I-80 as drivers enter the state. UDOT hopes they will act as a good reminder.
"Be cautious, be careful. If they need to rest to get themselves in a better state to get through the desert on the west side, or the mountainous terrain on the east side, that they can be well aware of the dangers that are ahead," explained Randy Park, UDOT's Region Two director.
Park added, "Our hope is with these variable message signs that they're more real. The message changes weekly."
He says the signs are strategically placed a few miles ahead of rest areas. If the signs are successful, UDOT will consider putting out more.
E-mail: mgiauque@ksl.com
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
