Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Bad Drivers
Posted By Babs De Lay on July 5, 2017, 4:00 AM
I wonder if Donald Trump drives anything but a golf cart. I've never seen a photo of him behind the wheel of a car, but then again, I don't remember seeing any president driving and waving in my lifetime. As far as I know, the first U.S. president to ride in a car was William McKinley, who hopped aboard a steam-powered auto called the Stanley Steamer back in 1899. In those days, they were made by hand and not on assembly lines, so they represented the ultimate luxury. It's estimated that in 1909 Utah's 370,000 residents owned only 873 cars and trucks.
Jump ahead to 2017, and the Larry H. Miller group owns and operates just more than 60 car dealerships across Utah and six other states. According to the Federal Highway Administration, a total of 2,229,193 motor vehicles were registered in this state in 2015. That's a high number, especially given that the Utah Transit Authority's most recent stats from January 2017 say the UTA serves more than 80 percent of the state's population.
I take Trax because I live in the "free fare zone." The fact that it offsets my carbon footprint is the ultimate bonus—as a real estate broker, I pretty much drive around all day for a living. And, not to toot my own horn, but I'm a great driver—I've never caused an accident and, luckily, have only been in one minor mishap when someone rear-ended my car. Unfortunately, I do see accidents every day and my cop friends tell me that most of them are caused by people texting and not paying attention to the road.
A recent report by online insurance marketplace QuoteWizard confirms that New Yorkers are notorious for honking their horns; Los Angeles drivers are more prone to road rage than the rest of the country; and Portlanders are famously slow and polite. They weighed statistics from 75 of the largest U.S. cities as far as accidents, speeding tickets, DUIs and other citations and, as City Weekly recently reported in a blog post, found that Salt Lake City drivers are the second-worst. The study also found that we have the second-highest rate of speeding tickets in the country. That's only salt in the wound after the same company dubbed Utah drivers in general as the worst in the nation earlier this year. My own personal experience indicates that Utahns are probably No. 1 in making left-hand turns from the far right-hand lane and having more people in a vehicle than there are seatbelts.
Utahns still have a lot to boast about—at a national level and otherwise—but stats are stats. So, how do we combat this latest slap in the face? Easy: Get off your phone when you're behind the wheel, be mindful of others around you and for God's sake, use your turn-signal!
About The Author
Babs De Lay
A full-time broker/owner of Urban Utah Homes and Estates, Babs De Lay serves on the Salt Lake City Historic Landmark Commission. A writer and golfer, you'll find them working as a staff guardian at the Temple at Burning Man each year.
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