Barb Hutchison on Monday afternoon stationed herself at the corner of Park Avenue and Kearns Boulevard, close to the Olympic Welcome Plaza and one of the busiest intersections in Park City.
As traffic picked up at the end of the ski day, car after car passed her as she stood on the sidewalk holding a homemade sign. Hutchison had a simple message for the drivers, one resonant in a community where traffic and speeding have long been at the forefront of public discourse.
One side of the sign urged drivers not to speed, hoping they have heart. The other side wanted them to “Value others not texting,” a message that youngsters at a Heber City library helped her craft.
Hutchison is mounting a one-person campaign on the roadside as a means to address speeding and distracted driving. Speeding and other traffic-related offenses are common in Park City. The Police Department pulls over drivers at a steady clip each week for a variety of suspected offenses like speeding, other categories of moving and equipment violations.
Hutchison has no connection to the Police Department even as she attempts in her way to combat some of the same issues as the officers.
“I’m willing to stand out there,” she said. “I care about the people.”
Hutchison has lived in Heber City since 2004 and lived in Park City for approximately two years before moving to the Wasatch County community. She still drives into Park City frequently and has seen many wrecks.
“There’s just been so many car accidents … between Park City and Heber in the last four, five years,” she said.
Hutchison said she sees a “lot of entitlement” displayed by drivers. She said, as an example, there is regular speeding on S.R. 224, the state highway that serves as one of Park City’s entryways. The drivers on S.R. 224 “just floor it,” she said. She said she also witnesses aggressive driving such as tailgating, as “egos start to fly.” She said speeding may be fun for some drivers, but it impacts victims of accidents and the police who must respond.
Hutchison said she started the roadside sign holding along Main Street in Heber City on Thanksgiving and began the Park City effort in the middle of December. She has since stood in the Park City area twice and in Heber City five times. She appeared in the Park City area just as traffic began to increase with the busy holiday stretch approaching. There was steady traffic passing her location during the 3 p.m. hour on Monday as skiers, snowboarders and commuters were leaving Park City.
At least one driver did not initially understand her goal and mistakenly believed she was in need. On Thanksgiving, she said, the couple in that vehicle stopped to give her $20. She told them she was not in need and they gave her the money anyway to spend on her efforts. She used the money to purchase supplies for additional signs.
She described the reaction of drivers as being mostly in favor of her message. They have given her the thumbs-up sign and honked in encouragement.
“It affects me,” she said about speeding and texting while driving. “I don’t have to live there to care.”