Number of fatal crashes on the increase in region, state

Fatal vehicle crashes are increasing in Southeast Missouri, and about 60 percent of fatal accidents in Missouri involved drivers or passengers not wearing seat belts, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Cape Girardeau County is not immune from this reality.

Two local examples of this type of accident are Sarah Iler, 26, of Cape Girardeau, who was thrown and killed in a crash in May on Interstate 55, and 10-year-old Tayshon D. Matthews, who died in a crash on Highway 25 in June.

Neither Iler, who was pregnant, nor the driver of the Chevrolet Blazer, Matthew Rider, was wearing seat belts during the accident, according to Cape Girardeau Sgt. Adam Glueck.

Matthews was one of four passengers in a Tahoe; he died during a late afternoon rollover crash. Only the infant passenger in the vehicle was wearing any type of restraint.

"Not wearing a seat belt does not cause a crash, but it takes what should have been a minor traffic crash and turns it into an injury crash," Highway Patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott said. "What should have been an injury is a fatality. We've got to get to the point where every time you get in a vehicle, you put on your seat belt."

Fatalities from traffic crashes have increased in Missouri, according to data on the Highway Patrol's website. From from Jan. 1, 2015, through Nov. 3, 2015, the total number of fatalities was 723. From Jan. 1, 2016, through Thursday, the total was 781 -- a rise of 8 percent in one year.

The Highway Patrol's Troop E, which covers most of Southeast Missouri, has covered 66 fatal traffic crashes in that span, up from 52 in 2015, according to the Highway Patrol's traffic-crash map data.

Cape Girardeau County has had 13 fatal crashes in 2016, up from 11 in 2015.

Scott County had four traffic crashes each year.

Bollinger County had three in 2016 and two in 2015.

Perry County has had two fatal crashes in 2016 and one in 2015.

Interstate 55 was the site of three fatal crashes, and Highway 25 was the site of four fatal crashes in Cape Girardeau County in 2016, according to MSHP crash map data.

I-55 was the site of two crashes in 2015.

Other circumstances such as precipitation and the time of day vary among each crash. Parrott said more drivers may have been on the road in 2016 because of lower gas prices.

Parrott said the three most common contributing factors to fatal crashes are speed, distracted driving and driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

Driving too fast for road conditions was cited as a contributing factor in 140 fatalities in 2016 across the state, according to the Highway Patrol's motor vehicle traffic accident summary.

Drugs and alcohol were cited as a contributing in 143 fatalities in 2016 across the state, according to the summary.

Distractions were cited as a factor in 75 fatalities.

In Cape Girardeau County, driving too fast for conditions was a factor in one fatality, alcohol was a factor in another fatality and distractions were a factor in three fatalities in 2016.

Trying to limit distractions is difficult but local law enforcement has attempted to crack down on driving while intoxicated, Parrott said.

"We vigorously go after impaired drivers," Parrott said "People say its a personal choice, but when you're doing things like that, you're endangering everybody on the road."

The Southeast DWI task force includes the Cape Girardeau Police Department, Jackson Police Department and Scott County Sheriff's Office, among other agencies.

The task force conducted 18 DWI checkpoints in 2016, arresting at least two to three drunken drivers per checkpoint, according to task force leader Jackson Police Sgt. Jon Jensen. Many other people decided not to drive because of a checkpoint.

"We've had many people come through and said they intended to drive, but didn't because of the checkpoint," Jensen said. "The goal is to reduce the number of crashes."

A DWI checkpoint in Scott County in July netted five arrests, although all were unrelated to driving while intoxicated.

Cape Girardeau County accounted for about 1 percent of fatal traffic crashes for the state between 2012 and 2014, according to a Highway Patrol data.

Only three of Cape Girardeau's 22 fatal accidents in that time involved drinking.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address: I-55, Cape Girardeau, MO