The places this took place in a single day are far apart and rural. This guy kill Officer Hooser in northern Utah, took trucks and cars in central Utah and got caught in eastern Utah. I was raised around Vernal, it’s oil patch and ranchers. Just goes to show, not even rural areas are exempt from craziness.
Santaquin, Ut. - Pop. 16,898
Beaver, Ut. - Pop. 3,708
Mona, Ut. - Pop. 1,906
Nephi, Ut. - Pop. 6,840
Mt Pleasant, Ut. - Pop. 3,820
Vernal, Ut. - Pop. 10.079
Something to keep in mind when people say
“I live in a safe area”
“That kind of thing doesn’t happen here”
“I don’t go to cities”
Etc
Anywhere there are animals, including two leg animals, there exists a possibility you will need to avoid danger or even actively defend yourself.
Methinks drug use is more common there due to… boredom?
My little, but growing, town of 7K+ is not exempt by any means. Although at a much lower rate, crime exists and I expect that to stay steady. I’ll never forget when I went into the Police station to get my fingerprints for my CCW. After some small talk the officer asked if I was carrying (we’re constitutional carry here) I said no, not into a police station, and he said it’s permitted and they have no issue with it. He congratulated me on going the extra step for a CCW, told me the benefits over constitutional carry, and encouraged me to always take advantage of this right. We cannot be everywhere, so in most cases it’s you that’s the first responder. I’ve taken those words to heart.
Truck driver on meth, behind the wheel of an 18 wheeler, “No Bueno”. Guessing that there are no DOT rules for independent truck drivers like random drug testing, passing a CDL Medical Exam every 2 years. No one keeps tabs on these nutjobs. With so many Semi’s on the highways and byways these days, hope they’re running legally.
There are.
You are totally wrong company drivers or owner operators have to comply with the same rules. Dot will check an owner operator quicker then a company driver. I have been both over the last 38 years.
Like on Mike164’s post of the truck driver on meth, there is on a rare occasion, one falls through the cracks trying to cheat the system and ending up creating an atrocity, but all and all the majority of the trucking industry, comply by law, and DOT rules and regulations enforcement in place, the trucking industry run in compliance.
Yeah, most stay in compliance.
There are definitely occasions where someone does something exceptionally stupid and operates under the influence.
And in those instances, it generally does not end well!
Even a minor mistake when driving a semi causes massive damage.
And then there’s guys like this, nothing he did was by mistake. Every step of the way he acted with drug crazes intent.
Nowhere is exempt from craziness.
There is a three point tool I use to evaluate of any particular place regarding bad things happening::
There are more criteria considered before coming to a final decision, but these are always the first three.
If by Drug you mean Gun, then yes 
Car and home there is almost always a firearm within arms reach. If not in the car, within 3 steps reach maximum. Not paranoid, prepared. Crazy can be within seconds.