MAD MAX: UTAH ROADS
Driving in Utah in recent years feels more like a scene from Mad Max than a simple commute.
Whether you’re hopping on the I-15, 215, I-80, Bangerter Highway, Redwood Road, or really any of Utah’s streets, the odds of you and your loved ones coming face to face with automotive carnage seems to increase every year.
In fact, according to Utah’s Department of Public Safety, the state’s total crash count has increased 24.5% since 2010.
In just the past 5 years alone, hit and runs have doubled from about 2,500 to more than 5,000 per year, while auto insurance expenses have risen nearly 60% in the same period.
It’s gotten so bad, even some members of Utah’s legislature have begun to notice.
“Unlicensed drivers…” Now, if you ignored the rest of the context clues, you’d be led to believe there was an epidemic of Americans refusing to get their driver’s licenses in Utah. In reality, the context clues of MacPherson’s video reveals the true culprits: foreigners.
How could Utah, one of America’s reddest states, allow foreigners who don’t speak English or even live in America legally operate vehicles on our roads? The reason is two laws sponsored by the same Utah state senator: Curtis Bramble.
Bramble served as a Utah state senator from 2001-2024. His legislative “accomplishments” include sponsoring SB 227 in 2005 and SB 216 in 2022.
Well, SB 227 allows the state to grant driver privilege cards to illegals who are unable to prove lawful residence, while SB 216 expands Utah's driver's license test to include more than 13 languages.
Yes, you read that correctly. Utah is one of 19 states to offer driving privileges to illegal immigrants, issuing more than 35,000 of these special driver privilege cards per year.
Utah also offers its driver’s license test in more than 13 languages, including: Arabic, Dari, French, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tongan, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. Don’t worry though, if your preferred language is unavailable, you may commission one of the Utah Driver License Division approved interpreters to help you take your test.
By permitting illegal immigrants and non-English speakers to legally operate motor vehicles on our roads, Utah’s government is emboldening many more of these foreigners to drive without bothering to apply for a driver privilege card or license. After all, if they’re not going to follow our federal immigration laws, why would they bother following our state traffic laws?
