Someone in the United States dies in a drunk driving crash every 44 minutes. A new study from Siegfried & Jensen finds that Utah is one of the states standing out against that trend. Nationally, alcohol impaired driving caused 30% of all traffic deaths in 2024, killing 11,904 people, or about 32 every day. In Utah, alcohol was involved in 26% of traffic deaths, or 73 of the state’s 277 fatalities. That places Utah well outside the 10 riskiest states despite some of the fastest population growth in the country. Of Utah’s 251 fatal crashes, 27% (67 crashes) involved a driver with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.
Utah also compares favorably with its neighbors. Arizona recorded an alcohol involved fatality share of 34%, Nevada 33%, Wyoming 32%, and Colorado and Idaho 30% each. Nationally, Vermont had the highest share at 41%, followed by South Carolina and Texas at 40%. Texas also recorded the largest raw total, with 1,676 alcohol impaired deaths. Montana, Ohio, and Rhode Island (37%), Oklahoma and Kansas (35%), and Arizona and California (34%) round out the 10 highest-risk states. Alaska had the lowest share at 19%.
The study points to one policy decision as a key reason for Utah’s performance. In December 2018, Utah became the first and still the only state to lower its legal driving limit from .08 BAC to .05, despite opposition from the hospitality industry. NHTSA analysis found that Utah’s fatal crash rate fell 19.8% after the law took effect. Between 2016 and 2019, the state’s overall fatality rate dropped 18.3%, more than three times the national decline of 5.9%. Survey data suggests the law changed behavior: 22.1% of Utah drinkers said they changed their habits, most often by arranging a ride before they started drinking. Over the past 16 years, Utah’s DUI arrest rate has fallen 43% while its population grew 24%, the fastest growth rate in the nation. In 2024, the state recorded 11,440 DUI arrests, up 2% from the year before.
Inside Utah, the risk is not evenly spread. Salt Lake County is home to 34.5% of the state’s 1.2 million-plus residents in that county alone, yet it accounted for 29% of Utah’s alcohol related fatalities. That suggests a lower per capita risk than the rest of the state, which the study links to rideshare access, public transit, and walkable downtown areas. Salt Lake County still recorded the most deaths in raw terms, with alcohol involved in 28% of its traffic fatalities (21 of 73). Utah County’s alcohol share was lower at 21% (7 of 33 deaths), and Weber County’s was 22% (6 of 27). Together, those three Wasatch Front counties accounted for about 46% of all drunk driving deaths in the state, in line with their share of Utah’s population and traffic.
Some smaller counties show a much sharper picture. In Grand County, alcohol was involved in 40% of traffic deaths (4 of 10). In Morgan and Rich counties, the only traffic death recorded in each was alcohol related. Tooele County, by contrast, had one of the lowest shares among midsize counties at 20% (2 of 10), showing that being close to the Salt Lake metro does not automatically mean higher risk. In rural Utah, driving is often the only practical way to get home, and longer emergency response times can make a crash more likely to be fatal. Nationally, rural roads carry a fatality rate 1.5 times higher than urban roads. Timing matters as well. July was Utah’s deadliest month, with 15 of its 43 traffic deaths involving alcohol, while March had the highest share, with alcohol involved in half of all fatalities.
The national data shows how far the damage reaches beyond impaired drivers. While 61% of those killed in alcohol related crashes were the intoxicated drivers themselves, 39% were passengers, occupants of other vehicles, pedestrians, and cyclists. Severe impairment is the dominant factor: 68% of alcohol related deaths involved a driver at .15 BAC or higher, nearly twice the .08 limit, where crash risk is estimated at twelve times that of a sober driver. Men accounted for 75.5% of deaths, drivers aged 25 to 44 for nearly 42%, and 69% of alcohol impaired fatal crashes happened at night. Across major holiday periods, 37.4% of fatal crashes involved a drunk driver, compared with roughly 30% during the rest of the year.
The study also highlights a prevention tool that remains underused. Ignition interlock devices reduce repeat DUI offenses by up to 70% and cost about $70 to $100 a month, yet only 15% to 20% of convicted offenders install them. That matters because up to 84% of repeat offenders meet the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder, and drivers with a prior DUI conviction are 4.1 times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash.
“Utah proves that policy can save lives,” said a spokesperson for Siegfried & Jensen. “Lowering the legal limit to .05 was not an easy decision, but the data shows fewer people dying on our roads since it took effect. Behind every one of those 73 deaths is a family whose life changed forever. Targeted prevention along the Wasatch Front and better access to safe rides in rural counties could bring that number down even further.”