State transportation officials say Missouri is on track to surpass 2024 traffic fatality numbers.
There were 955 traffic-related deaths in Missouri in 2024, and there have been 745 traffic fatalities statewide this year, with about two months left in 2025. Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) chief engineer Eric Schroeter tells reporters that days will be getting shorter soon, with this weekend’s time change:
“So we’ll have more driving done in the evening and nighttime and the dark. We also know the holidays are coming,” Mr. Schroeter says.
He says more than half of the 745 traffic deaths this year were motorists who were not wearing seat belts. MoDOT is urging you to slow down and to put your phone down.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) are urging you to slow down and to pay attention, with the holiday and winter seasons approaching. Highway Patrol Captain Scott White tells 939 the Eagle that many motorists are speeding and are distracted:
“But we’re still seeing people not paying attention, driving too fast, not observing the speed limits. And really sometimes having no clue that they’re in a work zone,” Captain White says.
The Patrol and MoDOT briefed reporters Wednesday at MoDOT’s maintenance shed on Columbia’s Paris road. MODOT tells 939 the Eagle that some motorists are driving well over 100 miles per hour in Missouri work zones.
Wednesday was Missouri’s ninth annual buckle up phone down day. MoDOT and the Highway Patrol say distracted driving is a leading cause of crashes in Missouri. Cole County Emergency Medical Services chief Eric Hoy tells 939 the Eagle that when they see highway fatalities, it is often due to conscious decisions:
“Decisions that people make … not to wear your seat belt, not to put your phone down, not to obey the speed limit. And you know there’s this mentality out there that it won’t happen to me,” Chief Hoy says.
MoDOT says the lives lost are a fraction of the lives forever changed by poor driving decisions.