UDOT

Truck Smart partners with professional semi-truck drivers help educate Utahns on safely interacting with large trucks

SALT LAKE CITY (June 3, 2025) — With a higher percentage of commercial vehicles on Utah’s roads than nearly any other state, the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) is educating Utahns on safe practices for sharing the roads. UDOT’s Truck Smart campaign urges drivers to learn how to safely share the road with big rigs.

In 2024, there were 45 commercial vehicle-involved fatalities on Utah roads, and there have been 6 such fatalities on Utah’s roads so far this year. In 75 percent of crashes involving semi-trucks, passenger vehicle drivers are at fault and responsible. Nearly 25 percent of all vehicles on Utah roads are large trucks.

“With such a high number of commercial vehicles on Utah roads, it is vital that our drivers understand how to safely navigate driving around big rigs,” said Laurie Huntsman, UDOT spokesperson. “With a few simple changes in our driving habits to improve how we drive around semis and other big trucks, we can make our roadways safer for all drivers.”

The Truck Smart campaign reminds passenger vehicle drivers of two main practices when merging and driving around large trucks:

1. When passing or driving near a semi-truck, drivers should look for the truck driver’s face in their mirrors or even make eye contact with the truck driver.
2. Before merging in front of a large truck, drivers should make sure they see the entire truck or both headlights in their rearview mirror before moving over.

“Commercial vehicle drivers have far too many close calls every single day driving on Utah roads,” said Huntsman. “Truck drivers go through intensive training to earn their Commercial Driver’s License, with hundreds of hours of training. They do everything they can to keep themselves and other drivers safe; however, every driver on the roads also carries the responsibility of understanding how to safely drive near trucks to help keep our roadways safe.”

In addition to educating the general public, Truck Smart also does in-person presentations to teens in driver’s education courses about how to prevent crashes around semi-trucks. Over 700 presentations were given to driver’s ed classes in 2024. For further information about Truck Smart and the truck safety campaign, please visit https://trucksmart.udot.utah.gov/.