“It’s terrible when you see these alerts come in. You see an alert every time there’s a fatality in our roads,” said John Gleason, the primary spokesperson for the Zero Fatalities program.
Last year, 270 people died in crashes on Utah roads. This year, state leaders want to see those numbers drop.
“The Zero Fatalities program focuses on teaching drivers what their main challenges might be behind the wheel,” said Gleason.
Through the efforts and initiatives of organizations like Zero Fatalities, drivers are made aware of accident prevention and safety.
“Among the many resources available, the defensive driver course that we offer through the program costs only 40 dollars, and allows people to eliminate up to 50 points off of their driving records,” Gleason said.
The course will teach people how to react during difficult situations, and most importantly, it will teach people to prevent the five most dangerous behaviors that are killing people on the roads.
“These five behaviors are: aggressive driving, drowsy driving, distracted driving, impaired driving and not buckling up,” Gleason added.
One of these behaviors is causing Utah deaths more than ever before: not buckling up.
“Not wearing a seatbelt is causing almost half of Utah’s vehicle fatalities,” Gleason said.
