Every available Missouri state trooper will be on highways and lakes during the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, enforcing traffic and boating laws and providing assistance as well.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Lieutenant Eric Brown urges you to obey all traffic laws and to wear your seat belt:
“Designate a sober driver or a sober boat captain. If you follow the laws and you are a defensive driver, your chances of being involved in a traffic crash, especially a serious one, is much, much lower,” Lt. Brown says.
During Missouri’s 2025 Fourth of July holiday counting period, 13 motorists were killed statewide and another 415 suffered injuries. There were also 11 boating crashes with four injuries.
Meantime, Missouri state troopers urge you to be careful on lakes and waterways during the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Lieutenant Brown says Missouri has seen three boating fatalities this year. Lieutenant Brown also tells 939 the Eagle that there have been 14 drownings in Missouri so far in 2026, compared to eight at the same time last year:
“We have a lot of waterways that are experiencing very high water, whether that be our lakes, our streams, our rivers. And that has caused us some problems,” says Brown.
The Patrol encourages you to wear a life jacket when near, on or in water and to designate a sober operator for your vessel.
What’s next: The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s 2026 Fourth of July holiday counting period begins Thursday July 2 at 6 pm and continues until Sunday July 5 at 11:59.