Area highway fatality update — state death rates stay high

According to Missouri Coalition for Highway Safety, the 598 roadway fatalities thus far statewide in 2022 are tracking to meet or exceed the 1,016 who died on state thoroughfares in 2021.

Last year's figure reversed a 15-year trend of steady declines in the death rate.

Missouri's all-time most deadly year on roadways, 2005, saw 1,287 fatalities.

Safety advocates with MCHS continue to lament the number of unbuckled motorists involved in deadly accidents, plus point toward the continuing impact of the Aug. 20, 2020, removal of the motorcycle helmet requirement for those individuals age 26 and older.

Area

Thus far, according to the most recent statistics available through www.savemolives.com, individual selected counties in Southeast Missouri revealed the following 2022 fatality statistics:

• Cape Girardeau: 7
• Scott: 1
• Perry: 0
• Bollinger: 5
• Stoddard: 2
• New Madrid: 5
• Mississippi: 8

Plans

Missouri Department of Transportation officials continue to promote its Show Me Zero initiative, aimed at cutting fatalities through emphasis on buckling up, putting phones down while driving, driving sober and slowing down.

"Those four contributing factors make up the largest percentage of fatalities we see on (Missouri) roadways," said Nicole Hood, MoDOT's state highway safety and traffic engineer.

In December, Hood said roughly 25% of highway deaths in the state are the result of impaired driving, adding distracted driving is becoming more common.