Saturday, January 27, 2024

My 'Hazardous U-Turns' Follow-up Letter Tonight to Utah State House Majority Leader Mike Schultz:


----- Forwarded Message -----

From: "John McMillan" <mcmillanj@att.net>

To: "John McMillan" <mcmillanj@att.net>, "Mike Schultz" <mikeschultz@le.utah.gov>, "contactudot@utah.gov" <contactudot@utah.gov>, "emcmillan@utah.gov" <emcmillan@utah.gov>, "Joe Dougherty (DHHS)" <joedougherty@utah.gov>, "Cameron Roden" <croden@utah.gov>, "Gay Lynn Bennion" <glbennion@le.utah.gov>, "marie.stewart" <marie.stewart@slcgov.com>, "Marsha Judkins" <mjudkins@le.utah.gov>, "Paul A. Cutler" <pcutler@le.utah.gov>, "mballard@le.utah.gov" <mballard@le.utah.gov>, "Aaafoundation Info" <info@aaafoundation.org>, "media@utahsafetycouncil.org" <media@utahsafetycouncil.org>, "Utah Press Assn Director Brian Allfrey 2022" <ballfrey@utahpress.com>, "Utah Peace Officers Association 2022" <homeupoa@gmail.com>, "University of Utah Student Newspaper 2022" <press@chronicle.utah.edu>, "Deseret News 2022" <dnweb@deseretnews.com>, "newsmedia@ldschurch.org" <newsmedia@ldschurch.org>, "Angela Romero" <angelaromero@le.utah.gov>, "Utah Restaurant Association 2022" <info@utahrestaurantassociation.org>, "Utah Apartment Association 2022" <info@uaahq.org>, "UT_Webmanager" <ut_webmanager@hud.gov>, "Attorney General of Utah" <uag@utah.gov>, "Uag" <uag@agutah.gov>, "leo.abila" <leo.abila@slcgov.com>, "todd.mitchell" <todd.mitchell@slcgov.com>, "mike.brown" <mike.brown@slcgov.com>, "accessibility@allstate.com" <accessibility@allstate.com>, "ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov" <ryanwilcox@le.utah.gov>, "Office of Gov. 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Heather Melton" <heather.melton@soc.utah.edu>, "Utahia Info" <info@utahia.org>, "American Traffic Safety Services Assn 2022" <customerservice@atssa.com>, "County Council Member Bradshaw" <arbradshaw@slco.org>, "Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall 2021" <mayor@slcgov.com>, "Salt Lake City (UT) City Council" <council.comments@slcgov.com>, "emcmillan@utah.gov" <emcmillan@utah.gov>, "Joe Dougherty (DHHS)" <joedougherty@utah.gov>, "Paul A. Cutler" <pcutler@le.utah.gov>, "DenverPostEditors" <newsroom@denverpost.com>, "Cyprus Credit Union" <shauna.denos@cypruscu.com>, "University of Utah Student Newspaper 2022" <press@chronicle.utah.edu>, "Internships" <internships@romney.senate.gov>, "Uag" <uag@agutah.gov>, "mgwynn@le.utah.gov" <mgwynn@le.utah.gov>, "karilisonbee@le.utah.gov" <karilisonbee@le.utah.gov>, "lescamilla@le.utah.gov" <lescamilla@le.utah.gov>, "tweiler@le.utah.gov" <tweiler@le.utah.gov>, "derrinowens@le.utah.gov" <derrinowens@le.utah.gov>, "mkennedy@le.utah.gov" <mkennedy@le.utah.gov>, "dipson@le.utah.gov" <dipson@le.utah.gov>, "Utah Public Radio 2022" <tom.williams@usu.edu>, "membership@utahretail.com" <membership@utahretail.com>, "jason@utahrisk.org" <jason@utahrisk.org>, "shianne@utahrisk.org" <shianne@utahrisk.org>, "david@utahrisk.org" <david@utahrisk.org>, "ann@utahrisk.org" <ann@utahrisk.org>, "Utahtourism Info" <info@utahtourism.org>, "shianne@utahrisk.org" <shianne@utahrisk.org>, "Utah Hospital Association 2021" <jill@utahhospitals.org>, "Utah Medical Association 2021" <info@utahmed.org>, "Mike Weichers" <mweichers@ch.utah.gov>, "Rori Andreason" <randreason@midvale.com>, "Kimberly Foster" <kimberly.foster@wvc-ut.gov>, "Utah Transit Authority" <llasker@rideuta.com>, "Utah Farm Bureau Federation 2022" <aubree.thomas@fbfs.com>, "pedbikesafety@dot.gov" <pedbikesafety@dot.gov>, "safety.program@dot.ca.gov" <safety.program@dot.ca.gov>, "American Association of Transportation Officials 2021" <info@aashto.org>, "region8@dot.gov" <region8@dot.gov>, "The State of Idaho" <itdcommunication@itd.idaho.gov>, "media@nmag.gov" <media@nmag.gov>, "Arizona Republic Newstips" <newstips@arizonarepublic.com>

Sent: Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 10:14 PM

Subject: Re: Is UT Hurt by Not Enough Median U-Turns In Our State

January 27, 2024

Dear Utah State House Majority Leader Mike Schultz,

This is a friendly follow-up note to the letter I wrote and  sent you last night about public safety concerns of mine relating to motorists'  attempted or completed  U-turns at roadway intersections here in Utah.

I am also concerned about a possible current lack of full consolidation and analysis of  statewide records in regard to recent motor-vehicle accidents and recent  Road Rage Incidents in Utah that each involved an attempted or completed U-Turn by a motorist  on a roadway or highway  here in Utah.

House Majority Leader Schultz, do you believe it can   save dozens of lives each year  in our state if the Utah Department of Transportation and the Utah Department of Public Safety can jointly identify for the Utah State House the 10, 20, 50, or 100 street intersections or highway intersections in Utah  where the largest number of U-turn-related motor-vehicle collisions occurred during the most recent one-year period or specified multi-year period  that resulted in a medical  injury requiring hospitalization?

If your answer to the above question is "yes", do you plan to ask the Utah State  House  to authorize funding for an immediate computer-assisted thorough review of the above-described Motorist U-Turn Accident injury statistics for our entire  state?

I hope to hear from you soon.

With Friendly Best Wishes,

former Texas DPS full-time employee and current Utahn restaurant-industry  employee as well as  single adult white Anglo-Saxon English-Scottish-German-ancestry lifelong-citizen of the USA and permanent Utahn resident  John Kevin McMillan, 535 South 200 East, Apt. 912, Ninth Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android


On Fri, Jan 26, 2024 at 10:23 PM, John McMillan

<mcmillanj@att.net> wrote:

https://www.ksl.com/article/18433891/is-a-freeway-u-turn-ever-legal

https://www.abc4.com/news/wasatch-front/police-respond-to-car-crash-after-driver-makes-unsafe-u-turn-in-salt-lake-city/#:~:text=Utah%20State%20Code%20Section%20802,vehicle%20approaching%20from%20either%20direction

https://www.ksl.com/article/50201925/police-investigating-crash-caused-by-trooper-making-u-turn

https://kutv.com/news/local/3-injured-after-illegal-u-turn-causes-crash-on-sr-18

https://www.shmoop.com/drivers-ed/utah/u-turns.html


https://www.findlaw.com/traffic/traffic-tickets/illegal-u-turn-state-laws.html


https://star981.com/do-we-love-doing-u-turns-too-much-in-utah/


https://www.in.gov/indot/traffic-operations/median-u-turns/

January 26, 2024

Dear Utah State House Majority Leader Mike Schultz,

Thank you again for your very thoughtful December 6, 2023, reply letter to me in which you invited me to send you follow-up letters about concerns of mine relating to Utah.

I am very  concerned that  the possible current absence of a "Utah Median U-Turns Traffic Safety  Design and Construction Project" for our entire state may be playing a role in numerous preventable  injuries ---including fatal injuries---- occurring each year to Utahn motorists, bicyclists, electric bike riders,  scooter-riders, and pedestrians throughout  our state.

Directly above is a copyrighted online report about Median U-Turns that is provided by the State Government  of  Indiana's Department of Transportation state agency.

 Some key paragraphs  from that report:

"A Median U-turn (MUT) is a type of intersection in which some left-turns or crossings from the mainline road or secondary crossroad are made using indirect, downstream U-turn movements. Intersections of this type are common and have performed successfully in other states, notably Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and North Carolina.

"MUTs are a subset of design styles referred to as alternative, non-traditional, or innovative intersections, which also include roundabout, continuous green T, quadrant roadway, and displaced left intersections. While they differ in style, what these designs all share is a reduced number of conflicting traffic movements in comparison to traditional intersections, and that characteristic improves safety performance and lowers travel delay where certain traffic and site conditions are present."

Utah House Majority Leader Schultz, I would like to respectfully recommend that you please ask the Utah State House for generous funding toward the proposed  design and construction of numerous "Median U-Turns" throughout Utah that can help save numerous motorists' lives and pedestrians' lives each year on our state's roadways.

I have also included with this letter numerous online links to recent copyrighted reports about the current often-chaotic, very  confusing, and very  dangerous "U-Turns Tradition" at traffic light street  intersections  here in our state---a very precarious "status quo" that recks  havoc on public safety efforts for Utah and Utahns in our increasingly densely populated and fast-growing state.

I also sense that the current over-reliance on conventional U-Turns at traffic light intersections here in Utah may be partly responsible for the alarming recent increase in Road Rage-related violence on Utahn roadways.

Incidentally,  I myself do not recall having ever resided in any state other than Utah where I have directly witnessed as frequent an occurrence at traffic-light street intersections of a motorist attempting to make a U-turn at that intersection, often with other motorists and pedestrians being startled and unnerved by that very  abrupt U-Turn maneuver on the roadway.

I hope this brainstorming letter is helpful to you and your other nobly idealistic colleagues in the Utah State House of Representatives.

Sincerely and Best Wishes,

John Kevin McMillan, former Texas DPS full-time permanent staff member and the founder and only member of the non-proseltyzing and public-safety-minded, permanently-alcohol-free and tobacco-free, politely non-Christian and implicitly deistic "Progressive Prohibitionist Religion".

My Murray (UT) native Father, Dr. Calvin McMillan, consistently placed a heavy emphasis on driving very safely on highways and roadways, including here in Utah, and took great pride in never being the driver in any motor- vehicle accident anywhere in the USA or any foreign country.

My current  solo-occupancy bolt-locked and fully locked studio  rental apartment unit  home address ever since June 1, 2022:

535 South 200 East, Apt. 912, Ninth Floor, Salt Lake City, UT 84111.

My cell  phone: (512) 993-7305.

My home phone: (801) 355-0850.

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