Fatalities on Missouri’s roadways were up last year. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, there was an 11.4 percent increase in fatalities in 2015 after two years of lower numbers. Fatalities on Missouri’s roads for 2015 were over 800 for the first time since 2012.
As of Dec. 31, 853 people were killed in Missouri traffic crashes. Sixty-three percent of the drivers and passengers killed were not wearing seat belts.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the leading causes of fatal crashes continue to be speeding, driver inattention and impaired driving. The MHP says a couple of new trends have emerged for 2015 including increases in improper lane use and substance-impaired driving. Those crash trends are showing a 100 percent increase in expressway intersection fatalities and an 82 percent increase in overturning vehicle fatalities when compared to 2014.
Colonel Bret Johnson, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, says fifty percent of those not belted were also ejected from the vehicle.
