Utah is the fastest-growing state in the country, yet its roads show fewer drunk driving deaths than most states, according to a new analysis from Siegfried & Jensen of 2024 crash data. Alcohol was involved in 26% of Utah’s traffic deaths (73 of 277), below the national average of 30% and well outside the ten worst states. By crash count, 67 of Utah’s 251 fatal crashes (27%) involved a driver at .08 BAC or higher. Utah also compares well with its neighbors: Arizona (34%), Nevada (33%), Wyoming (32%), and Colorado and Idaho (30% each) all had higher shares.
The study points to one policy as a major reason. In December 2018, Utah became the first and still the only state to lower its legal driving limit from .08 BAC to .05, despite opposition from the hospitality industry. After the law took effect, NHTSA analysis found Utah’s fatal crash rate fell 19.8%. From 2016 to 2019, the state’s overall fatality rate fell 18.3%, more than three times the national decline of 5.9%. Survey data suggests the law changed behavior: 22.1% of Utah drinkers said they changed their habits, most often by arranging a ride before they started drinking. Over the past 16 years, Utah’s DUI arrest rate has fallen 43% while its population grew 24%. The state recorded 11,440 DUI arrests in 2024, up 2% from the year before.
The county data shows where drunk driving deaths are concentrated. Salt Lake County, home to 1,216,274 residents or about 34.5% of the state’s population, accounts for only 29% of Utah’s alcohol involved deaths (21 deaths), so its per capita risk is lower than the rest of the state. The study credits rideshare availability, public transit, and walkable downtown areas. Utah County, the second largest county, had a 21% alcohol share (7 of 33 deaths). Weber County had 22% (6 of 27). Together, these three Wasatch Front counties account for about 46% of Utah’s drunk driving deaths, roughly in line with their share of the state’s population and traffic.
Several smaller counties have much higher shares. In Grand County, alcohol was involved in 40% of traffic deaths (4 of 10), and in Summit County, one of three. Morgan and Rich counties each had a single traffic death, and in both cases alcohol was involved. Cache, Grand, and Washington counties each recorded four alcohol involved deaths, while Box Elder, Davis, Sevier, Uintah, and Wasatch recorded three each. Davis County is known for heavy DUI enforcement, but by deaths rather than arrests it ranks behind Salt Lake, Utah, and Weber counties, which shows that enforcement activity and deaths don’t always line up. Tooele County had one of the lowest shares among mid-sized counties at 20% (2 of 10), even though it sits next to the Salt Lake metro area. In rural areas, where driving is often the only option and emergency help can take longer to arrive, a single impaired driving crash is more likely to be fatal.
Utah’s seasonal pattern matches the national one. July was the state’s deadliest month, with 43 traffic deaths, 15 of them involving alcohol, the highest monthly count. March had the highest share, with alcohol involved in 50% of deaths. Nationally, July accounts for about 9% of alcohol impaired deaths, and 69% of alcohol impaired fatal crashes happen at night.
Nationally, drunk driving killed 11,904 people in 2024, about one every 44 minutes. In 68% of those deaths, a driver had a BAC of .15 or higher. Vermont (41%), South Carolina (40%), and Texas (40%) had the highest shares of traffic deaths involving alcohol, and Alaska had the lowest (19%). Against that backdrop, the study concludes that Utah shows how a firm policy can save lives. It also suggests that prevention focused on the Wasatch Front, along with more attention to rural counties with high alcohol shares, could lower the state’s toll further.
