93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
A record 520 transportation professionals, law enforcement officers and safety advocates are in Columbia for Missouri’s 2023 highway safety and traffic conference.
The three-day event began Monday afternoon at the Holiday Inn Executive Center. It’s being hosted by the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety. MoDOT director Patrick McKenna tells 939 the Eagle he’s impressed with the record attendance.
“I read into it is a clear and present issue in this state you know where we’ve had for the last several years over 1,000 lost souls on our roadways. And frankly that translates into about three a day, and what we’re finding is about two of those aren’t wearing a safety belt,” McKenna says.
MoDOT says Missouri has seen a 15 percent increase in traffic deaths in the past five years. The agency also says wrong-way traffic fatalities are up 59 percent since 2018.
Meantime, MoDOT director McKenna praises the family of a Columbia man who was struck and killed while picking up cones on Grindstone Parkway, for passage of Missouri’s new hands-free law. The new law is named for Siddens Bening, who died in 2019. MoDOT says the driver was video-chatting at the time of the incident, and that Bening was thrown 120 feet upon impact. Mr. Bening’s widow was in attendance Monday for the conference’s opening and received a huge ovation from the 520 attendees. MoDOT director McKenna was near tears.
“It’s amazing to see somebody take personal tragedy and try to turn that into a positive for others’ awareness. Frankly I don’t believe that law passes without her support and without her advocacy because her personal story really does … it’s moving,” says McKenna.
The new law prohibits drivers from physically holding or supporting a cell phone with any part of their body. It also prohibits drivers from conducting video calls while driving. Missouri state troopers say they’re issuing warnings until January 2025, when they’ll begin writing tickets.
The three-day conference is also featuring discussions on the impacts of cannabis on highway safety.
