Missouri traffic deaths up from 2015

Traffic deaths in Missouri are up seven percent from this time last year, and drunk driving crashes make up a large portion.

So far this year, 664 people have died on Missouri roadways.

Wednesday, Carol Elwyn appeared in Miller County Court accused of killing Travis Davolt and Dominic Delong in a drunk driving crash on Highway 54. Dalton Delong was also seriously hurt in the June crash.

“We just want justice for, on my son Travis and my grandson Dominic and my grandson Dalton,” Gale Devolt told ABC 17.

Elwyn is only one out of a staggering number of those who have reportedly killed someone while driving impaired.

“About 25 percent of all fatal crashes involve someone that’s been driving in some impaired condition and that’s way too many,” Lt. Paul Reinsch with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. “People realize that drinking and driving is very dangerous and yet they’re out there still doing it.”

The number of deadly crashes have been trending upward since 2013, according to the highway patrol’s website. But the highway patrol said it was not sure why.

“It is a concern,” Reinsch said. “We’re wondering exactly why these fatalities are going up and they went up as well last year because in several years before that, they had been going down.”

The patrol is putting a big emphasis on public education as well as working to stop drunk drivers, according to Reinsch.

“A lot of our efforts go towards removing the impaired driver from the highway whether we’re setting up DWI spot checks, DWI saturations in where we put as many officers in a known problem area as we can to get those impaired drivers off the road,” Reinsch said.

The Missouri Strategic Highway Safety Plan outlined a goal to reduce traffic deaths to 700 or fewer in 2016. Currently, the state is only 36 deaths away from reaching that number.

However, the highway patrol said it is still hopeful in reaching that goal.