Missouri State Highway Patrol sees increased traffic accidents during holiday travel

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Traffic accidents increase this weekend as holiday travelers take to the roads.

From Nov. 19 to Saturday, there were 148 traffic accidents throughout the state with 54 of them resulting in serious injury. That is 18 more crashes than the week before with 26 more in terms of serious injury, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol crash reports.

Cpl. Kyle Green with Highway Patrol Troop F said more officers are on patrol on Sunday because it is considered a peak travel day.

"Today, we've had an increase in the number of crashes on I-70 with the number of people out trying to get back to school, people returning home from their Thanksgiving Day trips and people out shopping," Green said.

There have been 21 reported accidents, according to Highway Patrol's online records, with the latest one occurring at 3:25 p.m. Sunday, with seven reported as serious and two fatal.

Green said the Highway Patrol's goal is to encourage people to people to slow down, wear a seat belt and to put phones away.