SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Utah lawmaker, who drove changes for motorcycle safety, has not ruled out more legislation to address a string of crashes that led to deaths and serious injuries.
The Utah Department of Public Safety reported that despite a slight decrease in motorcycle crashes — more than 1,200 of them in 2025 — deadly crashes are up — 66 so far this year compared to 47 at this time last year.
“We’ve noticed it has been an increasing problem,” said Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo. “It’s hard to tell if that has peaked or plateaued, or headed down at this point, but the data we do have shows that it has been on the increase.”
MORE | Motorcyclist Crash:
This week in Cedar City, a motorcyclist zoomed into an intersection as the light turned red and slammed into a car, sending the motorcyclist rolling on the pavement and breaking the bike in two.
He was just 20 years old, dressed in leather, thick jeans, shoes, gloves and he wore a helmet. Medical teams treated him at the crash site, but he refused an ambulance to the hospital.
Jeff Acerson may have seen worse on I-15 in Salt Lake County.
“A motorcyclist came flying by, in between lanes, and he was darting in and out,” he said, noting 30 seconds later the bike came to a crashing stop.
“His bike was over,” said Acerson. “His helmet was rolling down the freeway, and he was trying to pick himself up.”
And he remembered thinking, “Oh my goodness, I’m glad he’s not dead.”
“I think it’s a very small subset of motorcycle riders,” said Thurston, adding he senses “a subculture” that “thinks it’s okay to engage in dangerous behavior.”
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