State road fatalities down from 2021 so far, lack of seat belts still a factor

Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety (MCRS) reports 100 fatalities on roadways in the state through Feb. 20, a preliminary figure representing a nearly 26.7% year-over-year decline from 2021.

In the 25-county Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Southeast District, 12 died in the first seven weeks of 2022, all in rural locations, down from 15 a year ago.

Sixty-one percent of 2022's statewide fatalities to-date were not wearing restraints. The MCRS said its figures only show occupants of vehicles containing seat belts.

The 2020-2021 combined roadway death toll in Missouri marked two consecutive years of growing fatality totals after nearly a decade of steady decline.

Drilling down on the statistics, 2021 registered 1,014 deaths, the highest number of fatalities on Missouri's roads in over five years.

Missouri's all-time deadliest year on record is 2005, which witnessed a total of 1,257 fatalities.

"These fatalities are unacceptable, alarming and preventable," said MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna.

"There are simple things we can all do to make a real impact on our roadways. Wearing your seat belt is your best line of defense in a crash and avoiding distractions can prevent those crashes in the first place. Buckle up, phone down."

Preliminary data show 41% of fatal crashes in 2021 involved speeding or driving too fast for conditions.

Texting

In another MCRS metric, drivers using a cellphone were involved in more than 2,200 crashes in Missouri in 2021, although the organization claimed distracted driving remains widely underreported.

Wayne Wallingford

Wayne Wallingford of Cape Girardeau, director of the state Department of Revenue, had introduced a distracted driving bill in the current 101st General Assembly session while still a member of the state House.

Wallingford's legislation, if passed, would have banned all state motorists from texting while driving with the notable exception of those operating emergency vehicles.

When the veteran lawmaker left the state General Assembly in late December, his legislation was removed from the docket as a matter of long-standing protocol.

Wallingford's former colleague, Rep. Jeff Porter of Montgomery City (R-42) introduced a similar measure Feb. 10.

Porter's House Bill 1487 creates the traffic offense of distracted driving effective Jan. 1, 2024, with violation considered an infraction and a moving violation for point assessment.

If property is damaged or if harm -- whether injury or death -- is caused by a motorist found to have been texting, Porter's legislation regards the offense as either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstance's severity.

The bill has been assigned to the House Downsizing State Government Committee for consideration.

Motorcycles

The General Assembly removed Missouri's motorcycle helmet requirement for individuals 26 and older in August 2020.

While 2022 statistics are not immediately available, 19 motorbike deaths were recorded in the Southeast District as of December, up from 7 in 2020, a 171% increase -- according to figures provided in December's report of the Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization.

"I can't say that that is the overall contributing factor, but we did have the repeal of the helmet law, and so we are seeing more unhelmeted motorcyclist fatalities," said MoDOT's Nicole Hood, a state highway safety and traffic engineer, to the Jefferson City News-Tribune late last year.