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In a deadly preview of the Labor Day weekend, a rash of crashes, two of them fatal, kept Utah Highway Patrol troopers scrambling Friday.
"It's been a really rough start for holiday weekend travel," lamented John Gleason, spokesman for the Utah Department of Transportation.
At 4:18 a.m., a U-Haul truck plowed into the end of a guard rail on the exit leading from southbound Interstate 15 to Center Street in Provo. The driver, Jared Williams, 38, of Provo, died at the scene.
A few hours after that crash, Michael Burkman, 56, of Herriman, died when his sports car collided with a minivan on the Mountain View Corridor near 9000 South in West Jordan. The minivan driver reportedly suffered minor injuries.
As the "100 deadliest days of summer" — the period from the Memorial Day weekend through the Labor Day weekend — near an end, UHP will be out in force.
"We like to have extra troopers on the road," UHP Sgt. Todd Royce said, noting that three-day holiday weekends are particularly dangerous times to be on the roads because more drivers have been drinking.
The troopers will be watching for impaired, drowsy, distracted and aggressive drivers, Royce said. A $5,000 donation from the Utah New Car Dealers Association is helping cover overtime costs.
Other law enforcement efforts to keep drunken drivers off the streets include a multi-agency DUI blitz in Salt Lake County and checkpoints in Davis and Utah counties, according to Royce.
And more than a dozen Maverik gas stations along the Wasatch Front will display graphics and a video reminding motorists of the consequences of driving under the influence and encouraging them to designate a driver before taking the first drink.
"Customers often stop at one of our locations for gas and snacks before getting on the road," said Maverik Executive Director Ernie Harker, who lost his younger brother in a DUI-related accident. "We hope this message will motivate them to enjoy their Labor Day activities responsibly and to never drink and drive."
This summer has been more deadly than the summer of 2014 — Royce said preliminary figures show the number of fatalities on Utah roads and highways is 100-plus, about 10 more than last year. There has been a slight increase in impaired driver fatalities and more motorcycle fatalities, he said.
As Utahns hit the road, troopers will be doing more than apprehending impaired and other dangerous drivers, Royce said.
"We'll also be helping out stranded motorists along the highway," he said, "to get them where they want to go."
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