Perhaps because being a jerk behind the wheel does not carry the same moral stigma in Utah as being drunk, the Beehive State places less emphasis on discouraging aggressive driving. But statistics show that aggressive driving, including speeding, actually plays a role in more fatal accidents in Utah than drunken driving.

The folks on Capitol Hill should take notice. They should not throttle back on efforts to discourage drunken driving, but they should make a bigger push to convince drivers that speeding, tailgating and running red lights kill people.

It's not worth the risk.

It's irresponsible.

It's morally wrong.

Just like drunken driving is.

We have Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). Maybe what we need, in addition, is Brothers Against Driving with Grandiose Egos (BADGE). Because that's what aggressive driving is about: Treating your desire to get somewhere a few seconds faster as if it were more important than the lives of everyone else on the road. It's simple selfishness.

We were surprised to read the other day a report that said that in 2007 about 37 people in Utah died in accidents where drunken driving was a factor, but 72 died in accidents due to aggressive driving and speed. (More than one factor can contribute to a single accident.) The number of people who died because someone fell asleep at the wheel was the same as those who died because some driver was drunk.

Overall, 299 people were killed in traffic accidents in Utah in 2007.

And the biggest factor involved in fatal accidents? Not wearing a safety belt.

Utah has been running a series of TV ads that feature a sobbing woman who is trying to compose a letter to the survivors of someone she has killed in a traffic accident. Another spot features a grieving father sitting in a nursery, devastated because he is responsible for the death of a child, perhaps his own.

The ads then warn about five factors: drowsy driving, distracted driving, aggressive driving, impaired driving and not buckling up.

The ads are an effective appeal to the emotions, until they get to the reasons for accidents. We wonder how many viewers make a connection between the words "aggressive driving" on the screen and the behaviors those words stand for: speeding, tailgating, running red lights, weaving through traffic.

Aggressive driving is a major killer. Utah could do a better job of driving that point home.