Extra Utah Highway Patrol troopers will be watching for drivers speeding or talking on phones this holiday weekend as ‘100 deadliest days’ on the road begin

Martin Herrera remembers too vividly the horrible night five years ago when his 18-year-old daughter, Maria, was driving too fast on Interstate 15 to react to traffic that had stopped for an accident.

“Two highway patrolmen came to our door. One of them was holding her little purse,” he says. “We saw that and just knew what happened. There weren’t many words,” but plenty of tears. “She died on impact.”

To celebrate what would have been balloon-loving Maria’s 24^th birthday Thursday — and to spread a safety message — the Utah Department of Transportation displayed 90 balloons at its headquarters, one for every person who died on the state’s highways between Memorial Day and Labor Day last year.