In Salt Lake City, people on foot and on bikes make up a small slice of all crashes but a large share of the deaths. City transportation data from 2008 through 2017 found that pedestrians and bicyclists were only 19 percent of injury and possible-injury crashes, yet more than 42 percent of everyone killed on city streets.1 Being outside a vehicle is the dangerous part. When a car and a person collide, the person loses.
Two deaths in 2025 show the pattern. In May, a 46-year-old man was hit and killed by a northbound SUV while crossing State Street near 500 South, one of the widest, fastest streets downtown.2 In October, 65-year-old Jesse Marchant was struck in a crosswalk on 500 South near 2000 West, in the Poplar Grove neighborhood, and died hours later; the Salt Lake City Police Department's Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Team worked the scene.3 Different sides of town, same kind of road.
Where the crashes cluster
The deadliest crashes in Salt Lake City don't spread evenly across the grid. They concentrate on a handful of wide arterials built to move cars quickly, where the crossing distances are long and the posted speeds are high.
State Street (US-89) runs the length of the valley and shows up again and again in fatal pedestrian reports. It carries heavy commuter and commercial traffic through dense retail blocks packed with driveways and mid-block crossings. Redwood Road (SR-68) on the west side is the other name that keeps recurring. And 500 South has now seen two pedestrian deaths in 2025 alone, at opposite ends of the city.
Here's a local wrinkle that matters. State Street and Redwood Road are both state highways, so Salt Lake City can't redesign them on its own; the Utah Department of Transportation has to sign off. That shared control is part of why fixes come slowly on the roads that need them most.
What the latest numbers say
Statewide, 2025 was better than recent years. UDOT and the Department of Public Safety reported 264 traffic deaths in Utah for 2025, down from 277 in 2024 and the lowest total since 2019.4 Even with that drop, motorcyclist deaths rose 32 percent year over year, and the people most exposed on the road kept dying at a stubborn rate.4
The pedestrian picture is the one to watch. In 2024, Utah recorded 43 pedestrian deaths and more than 160 people seriously injured while walking, according to the state's Zero Fatalities program, along with seven bicyclists killed.5 That was actually an improvement on 2022, a nine-year high when 54 pedestrians were killed and 176 were seriously hurt.5 About a third of all Utah road deaths in 2024 were people walking, biking, or riding a motorcycle.5
For national context, drivers across the U.S. struck and killed 7,148 pedestrians in 2024, down 4.3 percent from the year before, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.6 The trend is bending down, slowly, after years of increases.
The roads the city is trying to fix
Salt Lake City joined the national Vision Zero Network in January 2023 and set a goal of zero traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2035.7 The city's Safe Streets Action Plan is meant to be the data-driven roadmap to get there.8
Redwood Road is the clearest example of that plan turning into concrete. In September 2024 the city won a $2.9 million federal grant through the U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program, funded by the 2021 infrastructure law.9 The money pays for safety countermeasures at six stop-controlled intersections along a 6.4-mile stretch of Redwood Road, plus three high-intensity activated crosswalk (HAWK) beacons and new sidewalks.9 The west-side population along that corridor has grown roughly 20 percent, and many residents are low-income and cross those lanes on foot or to reach a bus.9 "As our City grows, we must meet increased demand with safer routes and pedestrian access on our roads," Mayor Erin Mendenhall said when the grant was announced.9
Around the city you'll also see smaller changes: flashing beacons at crosswalks, painted curb extensions, and leading pedestrian intervals that give walkers a head start before drivers get a green.
How to check the crash history near you
You don't have to take anyone's word for which corners are dangerous. Salt Lake City publishes several free dashboards. The Vision Zero Crash Map plots every crash that caused a serious injury or a death.10 A separate Pedestrian Crash Dashboard and Bicycle Crash Dashboard break down where and how people walking and biking are getting hit.1112 For the whole state, the Utah Department of Public Safety runs a crash summary tool you can filter by city and year.13
If you walk or ride a regular route, look up your own intersections before you assume they're safe.
If you or someone you love was hit
Get medical attention first, even if you feel fine. Adrenaline hides injuries, and a gap in treatment can be used against you later. Make sure Salt Lake City police respond and write a report, because in Utah the officer's crash report and diagram often decide who's found at fault. Get the driver's insurance information, photograph the scene and your injuries, and write down the names of any witnesses before they leave.
Utah is a no-fault state for medical bills, so your own auto policy's personal injury protection can cover early treatment whether or not you were the one driving, and pedestrians and cyclists struck by a car are usually covered too. Keep every bill and every appointment. If the crash was serious or fault is disputed, you can find a personal injury attorney through the thatcarhitme.com legal directory.
Crashes on State Street, Redwood Road, and the other big arterials keep happening for the same reasons each year. Knowing where they cluster, and what your rights are afterward, is the part you can control.
This article is general information, not legal advice.
Sources
-
Salt Lake City Transportation, "Transportation Safety." https://www.slc.gov/transportation/safety/
-
KSL.com, "Pedestrian killed while crossing State Street in Salt Lake City." https://www.ksl.com/article/51322246/pedestrian-killed-while-crossing-state-street-in-salt-lake-city-
-
Salt Lake City Police Department, "SLCPD investigating auto-pedestrian crash near Salt Lake City Fleet" (Oct. 4, 2025). https://police.slc.gov/2025/10/04/slcpd-investigating-critical-injury-auto-pedestrian-crash-near-salt-lake-city-fleet/
-
UDOT and DPS, "UDOT and DPS release 2025 statewide traffic fatality numbers" (Jan. 6, 2026). https://connect.udot.utah.gov/2026/01/06/udot-and-dps-release-2025-statewide-traffic-fatality-numbers/
-
KSL.com, "UDOT, UHP: 281 people were killed on Utah roads in 2024" (Zero Fatalities data). https://www.ksl.com/article/51223905/udot-uhp-281-people-were-killed-on-utah-roads-in-2024
-
Governors Highway Safety Association, "Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State: 2024 Data." https://www.ghsa.org/resource-hub/pedestrian-traffic-fatalities-2024-data
-
Salt Lake City, "SLC commits to join Vision Zero Network" (Jan. 11, 2023). https://www.slc.gov/blog/2023/01/11/slc-commits-to-join-vision-zero-network-with-goal-to-eliminate-all-traffic-related-fatalities-and-severe-injuries/
-
Salt Lake City Transportation, "Plans and Studies" (Safe Streets Action Plan). https://www.slc.gov/transportation/plans-studies/
-
Salt Lake City, "Salt Lake City awarded $2.9M federal grant to make Redwood Road safer for residents" (Sept. 6, 2024). https://www.slc.gov/blog/2024/09/06/salt-lake-city-awarded-2-9m-federal-grant-to-make-redwood-road-safer-for-residents/
-
Salt Lake City, "Vision Zero Crash Map." https://maps.slc.gov/portal/apps/dashboards/53319ea0d31348f2a0d121347b377b09
-
Salt Lake City, "Pedestrian Crash Dashboard." https://maps.slc.gov/portal/apps/dashboards/d6f21599be4748d096d6e1d3e03a4174
-
Salt Lake City, "Bicycle Crash Dashboard." https://maps.slc.gov/portal/apps/dashboards/df36e8566076488a8539a9e8dd7dffb5
-
Utah Department of Public Safety, "Utah Crash Summary." https://udps.numetric.net/utah-crash-summary#/