The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Traffic Fatalities in Utah

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the road network in the state of Utah experienced a major drop in traffic volume. During this time, there was also a decrease in the number of crashes. However, while there was less traffic and fewer crashes, the number of fatal crashes increased. This study aims to identify trends and changes in traffic fatalities during the pandemic. The data shows that traffic fatalities in 2020 increased by 20.8% from 2019 and by 14.6% from the average of the last 10 years. The different attributes of the fatal crashes were investigated. The types of attributes that increased significantly during the pandemic include intersection-related, older driver-related, motorcycle-related, and speed-related fatal crashes. Other types of fatal crashes decreased including work zone-related, distracted driving-related, teenage driver-related, and pedestrian-related fatal crashes.