Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
KEARNS — After 26 bike and pedestrian crashes in Utah so far in 2025, analysts are concerned for students now that school is in full swing — they're hoping drivers steer clear of school crosswalks. Hopefully you see them on the road — kids walking hand in hand, done with the summer break and going back to school. However, the ability to see them isn't the only factor that contributes to crashes, according to Jason Mettmann, the communications manager with the Utah Highway Safety Office. "As the conditions change on the road our habits need to change as well," Mettmann said. State safety experts know you've heard the warning before, but they really want that message to sync in. "We need to be more mindful now more than ever to be aware of crosswalks, be aware of crossing guards, follow those signs and signals out on the road," he said. In the last five years, Utah averaged over 400 crashes and 10 pedestrians killed each year in the state's crosswalks. To change the upward trend the state is seeing in 2025, both parties — drivers and kids walking or biking — will need to make an effort to pay more attention, according to Seth Cauman, community engagement and education manager for Bike Utah. "Not every kid knows that when you get to the street you have to stop, look left and right, and then left and then you look up and cross," Cauman said. Another expert on the matter, Natalie Lovell, program manager at Safe Routes Utah, also made a radical point to parents that isn't often discussed: "So often we hear from parents that 'I don't want my kid walking to school. It's so busy. There's so many cars,'" she said. "Well the irony there — if more kids were walking, there would be less cars on the road." The goal is to do it safely, she said, by looking out for each other, obeying when to cross, and for drivers, giving kids the right-of-way. "Nobody wants to be involved in a car crash, especially with one of these young kids on the way to school," Lovell said. To help drivers get the message, Utah is running a statewide school zone safety blitz by funding an additional 200 overtime police shifts across 15 agencies. Their goal is to ticket or educate drivers who don't stop for buses or violate crosswalk laws. The blitz runs until Monday.
