Nobody is safe unless everyone is safe

Community safety is my top priority.
Every year thousands of people die or are severely injured by preventable crashes on Utah's roads.  I intend to hold UDOT accountable by demanding that they adopt proven strategies that will them reach the goal of 
ZERO fatalities.

Defining the Problem

In 2016, UDOT set a goal to reduce traffic fatalities by 50% by 2030.  The problem is that fatalities are not going down, in fact they are going up.   If UDOT's strategies were working, we would be experiencing under 200 fatalities in 2025. A number we have tragically surpassed in October. 

What has UDOT done to address this problem?

UDOT's proposed solution

In 2022, the US Department of Transportation adopted the Safe System Approach the guiding paradigm to address roadway safety as part of its National Roadway Safety Strategy.  This is an approach that was first enacted in Sweden under the name Vision Zero.  Utah's latest Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP 6.0) intends to adopt this new Approach.  Except that there is an important difference. 

Can you spot the critical differences in the adjacent diagrams?

What is wrong with Utah's Approach?

It is no secret. The Safe System Approach was always meant to replace the antiquated 3E's approach (In Utah we call it the 5E's).  However, many Departments of Transportation across the nation, including ours, have been reluctant to replace it, and have resorted to find creative ways combine these two incompatible approaches.
The problem is so persistent that back in 2022, Jennifer Homendy, Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), made an explicit recommendation to the highway safety community to "ditch" the old system in order to properly address the problem that kills more than 40,000 people in roads across the USA every year.

Why has UDOT failed to implement the new approach correctly?

UDOT is stuck in traffic

It is undeniable, UDOT has combined two incompatible strategies. They even admit that this is not really how it should be done:
"While the Safe System approach represents a shift in strategy, it complements the proven foundation of the five E's of safety."
This is a classic case of  Policy Resistance. When the political ideology of "growth" overwhelms decision makers ability to do the right thing. When strategic safety plans are done half-heartedly, people die.
You see, much of Utah's "growth policy" is heavily reliant on UDOT projects (like the Gondola) with objectives and statement of purpose solely based on the ineffective principles that encircle Utah's Safe System Approach. To fully adopt THE REAL safe system approach remove those antiquated principles and undermine the state's "growth policy."

What can we do to instigate change in a department unwilling to accept they are wrong?

What I propose we do

My intent is not to stun growth.  Instead is to replace it with sustainable growth.  Therefore, my idea is to hold UDOT accountable for the safety of every roadway user. We will no longer tolerate cheap imitations for a strategic plan. UDOT must be willing to fully commit to achieve ZERO fatalities by 2034, when the Winter Olympics return to UTAH.

If you chose me to represent you, I intend to pursue the following objectives:

  1. Seek acknowledgement from UDOT about this problem.
  2. Demand UDOT corrects the SHSP and fully replaces the old with the new. No cheap imitations.
  3. All branches of State Government commit to a goal of ZERO fatalities by 2034.
  4. I intend to leverage the Olympics as an opportunity to redirect UDOT's purpose from useless gondolas to the goal of transporting 80% of all visitors to the Winter Olympics without the use of a car.

These are not easy goals, but they are not impossible either. Truly shifting how Utah moves; from Ogden to Provo, and Kearns to Heber would pivot our state safety culture.

No fakes accepted

No More Cheap Solutions

Your vote matters

I will address the systemic challenges we are facing now and in coming decades. Economic inequality, racial injustice, failing democracy, and climate collapse are already upon us, and systemic problems require systemic solutions.