Have we reached the critical mass of accidents and fatalities to get serious about Spanish Fork Canyon?

Twelve deaths in the canyon last year were obviously not enough. This year, we had truck driver Todd Nicolson die after crashing his gasoline truck there in April. Utah got lucky, as it did when a truckload of explosives blew up in the canyon last year, and no other motorists were hurt in the tanker crash.

Like many crashes in the canyon, speed was the cause of this latest one. Utah Department of Transportation officials estimate that Nicolson was going 70 mph in a 40-mph zone. After the crash, UDOT announced plans to install a dynamic curve warning system, which will tell drivers to slow down if they are going too fast for a curve.

It's a little late for Nicolson, but it may help others.

This section of highway is known to many as a dangerous stretch. It even made the Readers' Digest list of most dangerous roads in the country. The danger is due to the fact that the road is narrow and has sharp, blind curves at some points. The fact that it is the only major connection between the Wasatch Front and the recreation areas of southeast Utah adds to the danger.

To its credit, UDOT has tried to make the road safer. Since 1997, UDOT has spent $115 million on improvements, such as better passing lanes, and it is prepared to spend another $50 million in the next two years.

Safety would be improved if the road were widened, some of the sharper curves straightened and some sort of barrier placed where appropriate to divide traffic traveling east and west.

But there are only so many things the state can do. Every conceivable safety device can be circumvented by a careless driver. If a curve warning system were in place, it may or may not have saved Nicolson's life, depending on whether he heeded the warning. The primary burden for safety is on the individual operator of a vehicle.

Many times, accidents in the canyon are caused by an impatient driver passing where he should not, or a driver taking a curve too fast, as in this case.

The Utah Highway Patrol has stepped up enforcement in the canyon on occasion, targeting driving behavior that causes accidents such as speeding and tailgating. But the Highway Patrol cannot be running radar there every single day. Drivers need to do their part and drive defensively.

Waiting for a passing lane to get around a slow-moving vehicle may be frustrating on the canyon grade, but passing in a no-passing zone puts lives at risk. Better to grin and bear it.

Slower vehicles should pull over on occasion to let the traffic behind them pass. That helps reduce others' temptation to pass illegally and it keeps everyone's temper in check, though it's really not practical for heavy trucks grinding their way to Soldier Summit.

Truckers who are hauling hazardous materials such as explosives or gasoline should go through extra training for handling those loads in places like Spanish Fork Canyon, and the state should drive the message home by increasing penalties for violators. One of these days, there is going to be an accident in which innocent people will be hurt or killed.

It is a bad idea to drive anywhere when you are tired, but it is even more dangerous in Spanish Fork Canyon. A drowsy driver can drift into oncoming traffic. Even nodding off for a single second can be dangerous. In that time, a car going 60 mph goes almost a third the length of a football field. If you are tired, take a nap, let someone else drive or put off the trip until you are completely rested.

If everyone -- UDOT, highway patrol and drivers -- work together, Spanish Fork Canyon could eventually lose its reputation for danger.