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UTA Safety & Security
Safety is our highest priority. The UTA Safety and Security department is committed to improving safety for our passengers, employees and the larger community. Safety employees regularly monitor UTA operations and property to ensure meeting the highest safety standards.
Transit police officers regularly patrol our UTA vehicles and stations to ensure fare compliance and respond to security matters when they occur.
Stay Safe!
Remember it only takes a second to be safe!
1. Always watch for trains—look both ways before crossing the tracks
2. Avoid dangerous distractions—take off head phones, don’t text or talk on the phone while crossing the tracks
3. Don’t bike or skate board on a train platform
4. Stand behind the yellow line when trains are approaching the platform
5. Hold hands with smaller children
6. Never cross between train cars or through the trackway—always use designated safe crossings
For motorists:
1. Never go around a lowered gate or try to outrun a train. Just wait for the train to pass, the gates to lift and lights to stop before crossing the track.
2. Obey all traffic signals and signs. Many accidents occur when motorists run a red light or make an improper left turn in front of a train.
3. UTA also partners with Operation Lifesaver in giving rail safety presentations to elementary, junior high and high school classes and other organizations. If you would like to request a safety presentation, click here. [create an alias for safetypresentation@rideuta.com directed to Chad Saley].
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Stay safe on and around buses:
Arrive at your bus stop five minutes earlier than the scheduled bus departure time.
Wait until the bus comes to a complete stop and the doors open before trying to board the bus.
Use available seating when riding the bus. If you must stand, use the handrails and overhead straps to help maintain your balance. Never stand or sit in the stairwells inside the bus.
While the bus is in motion, stay behind the white line located at the front of the bus.
Obey all instructions given by the bus operator and police officers.
When the bus pulls up to your stop, remain seated until the bus comes to a complete stop.
After exiting the bus, never cross directly in front of it. Wait until the bus leaves the stop before crossing the street.
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Pedestrian Safety:
Only cross the street or train tracks at designated crossings. While jaywalking may get be faster, drivers are not expecting you to cross the middle of the block.
When possible, cross the street at a designated crosswalk. Always stop and lookleft, right, and left again before crossing. If a parked vehicle is blocking the view of the street, stop at the edge line of the vehicle and look around it before entering the street.
Increase visibility at night by carrying a flashlight when walking and by wearing retro-reflective clothing that helps to highlight body movements.
It is much safer to walk on a sidewalk, but if you must walk in the street, walk facing traffic.
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TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS! This allows other cars to see you during the day. If your car does not have daytime running lights, then remember to use your headlights anytime your windshield wipers are on.
Driving Safely Among Pedestrians
Striking a pedestrian with a motor vehicle is a horrible experience. Most drivers would tell you that they would do anything to avoid this. The plain fact is that many do not do even the most elementary things, like looking out and being careful. Drivers must remember:
1. Pedestrians have the right-of-way at intersections, whether or not the crosswalks are marked by painted white lines. You must yield when a pedestrian is on or near the half of the roadway you are traveling. The law requires that drivers do everything possible to keep from hitting pedestrians.
2. Stop for the safety of anyone crossing the street on foot. Do not pass any vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk. A pedestrian hidden from your view may be crossing the street.
3. When driving across a sidewalk, you must yield to pedestrians. Pedestrians have the right-of-way on all sidewalks.
4. You must yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian using a guide dog or carrying a white cane. Only blind or nearly blind persons are permitted to carry white canes.
5. Vehicles turning right or left on a green light must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians who are in a marked or unmarked crosswalk within the intersection. Every intersection has a crosswalk, whether marked or not.
6. Vehicles shall stop at a clearly marked stop line, not in the crosswalk.
7. When turning right on red, look to your passenger side before turning to make sure no one is walking in front of your car.
8. Use caution where children may be present (schools, residential areas, playgrounds, parks, bus stops, etc.).
9. When driving at night, be alert and watch for pedestrians (60% of pedestrian fatalities occur between 6:00 PM – 6:00 AM.
10. Obey the speed limit, especially in areas where pedestrians are likely to be. The risk of a pedestrian dying from a collision rises rapidly with increasing speeds. Whereas, 5% of pedestrians struck by a vehicle traveling 20 mph will die, 40% of pedestrians struck at 30 mph will die, 80% of pedestrians struck at 40 mph will die.
The Right Cross This is the most common way to get hit (or almost get hit).(source1, source2) A car is pulling out of a side street, parking lot, or driveway on the right. Notice that there are actually two possible kinds of collisions here: Either you're in front of the car and the car hits you, or the car pulls out in front of you and you slam into it.
How to avoid this collision:
1. Get a headlight. If you're riding at night, you absolutely should be using a front headlight. It's required by law, anyway. Even for daytime riding, a bright white light that has a flashing mode can make you more visible to motorists who might otherwise Right Cross you. Look for the new LED headlights which last ten times as long on a set of batteries as old-style lights. And headlamps (mounted on your head or helmet) are the best, because then you can look directly at the driver to make sure they see your light.
2. Wave. If you can't make eye contact with the driver, wave your arm. It's easier for them to see your arm going left and right than it is for them to see a bicycle coming straight towards them. You could also use a loud horn (like the Air Zound) to get drivers' attention. If it looks like the driver is about to pull out without seeing you, yell "Hey!" You may feel awkward waving or yelling, but it's better to be embarrassed than to get hit. Incidentally, many countries require bells on bicycles, but the U.S. doesn't.
3. Slow down. If you can't make eye contact with the driver (especially at night), slow down so much that you're able to completely stop if you have to. Sure, it's inconvenient, but it beats getting hit.
4. Ride further left. You're probably used to riding in the "A" line in the picture, very close to the curb, because you're worried about being hit from behind. But take a look at the car. When that driver is looking down the road for traffic, he's not looking in the bike lane or the area closest to the curb; he's looking in the middle of the lane, for other cars. The farther left you are (such as in "B"), the more likely the driver will see you. There's an added bonus here: if the motorist doesn't see you and starts pulling out, you may be able to go even farther left, or may be able to speed up and get out of the way before impact, or easily roll onto their hood as they slam on their brakes. In short, it gives you some options. Because if you stay all the way to the right and they pull out, your only "option" may be to run right into the driver's side door.
You might worry that moving left makes you more vulnerable to cars coming from behind. But the stats say you're far more likely to get hit by a car at an intersection ahead of you that can't see you, than from a car behind you which can see you clearly. So while both positions have risk, you generally reduce your risk by riding a little farther left. Your actual lane position depends on road conditions. On fast roadways with few cross streets (and thus less chances to get hit at intersections), you'll ride farther to the right. On slow roads with many cross streets, you'll ride farther left. See lane position for more about this.
UTA is committed to enhancing safety in the transit system through education. Here are some tips about staying safe on and around UTA Buses and Rail services.
UTA also partners with Operation Lifesaver in giving rail safety presentations to elementary, junior high and high school classes and other organizations. If you would like to request a safety presentation, or learn more about Operation Lifesave, please email Chad Saley at csaley@rideuta.com.
