This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
I'm not LDS, nor do I drink. I do, however, find it ridiculous that lawmakers and the governor think they are keeping me safe by lowering the blood alcohol limit.
The governor's comparison to Rome may have sounded good had Utah not already had silly alcohol laws. There is absolutely no separation of church and state when it comes to alcohol in Utah. It is all about what the church thinks is right.
If they were really concerned with keeping me safe, they would do a better job of enforcing the laws that are already in place, but they don't. I see distracted driving and people texting all day long. Texting while driving doesn't seem to be enforced. I once asked a police officer about it and was told it is difficult to enforce.
Speeding is out of control. Drive I-215 on the west side where the construction speed limit is 60 and just about every car will pass you. And yet I can count on one hand how many times I have seen police there monitoring traffic since construction started.
I see more people running stop signs than stopping for them.
Crossing several lanes of traffic to make an exit at the last minute is a serious hazard, too.
Staying stopped at a railroad crossing until the lights go off is also a law. I even observed a West Jordan officer not obey this law.
Stopping for pedestrians at a crosswalk isn't obeyed. Yet it is a law, too.
I see a lot of people who don't know which way to turn their wheels when parked on an incline. This should be basic, yet they have a driver license.
There is a reason why Utah is ranked as having the worst drivers in the nation — along with traffic fatalities increasing over the last four years — and it isn't because someone had a glass of wine with their dinner.
Chris Fairbanks
Salt Lake City