MoDOT works toward for zero traffic fatalities

More than two people a day have died on Missouri highways so far this year. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, there have been 731 fatalities as of October 20, about 60 more when compared to the same time-frame in 2015. They want that number to be zero.

MoDOT wrapped up the Traffic Safety and Blueprint Conference in Columbia Thursday afternoon. During the three-day conference, keynote speakers and safety advocates from across the state talked about what they can change to make the state’s roads safer. They looked at different factors, like young drivers, pedestrians, and signage.

Over the next four years, as they have in previous years, employees with MoDOT will look at specific areas and implement different strategies involving law enforcement and emergency responders.

Since the late 2000’s, traffic fatalities have mostly gone down, but there has been a spike in recent years. According to MoDOT, Missouri has seen a 31 percent reduction in fatalities since 2005, when 1,257 people died in traffic crashes. In 2011, those deaths plateaued, but in 2015, the state, like the rest of the country, saw an increase.

In 2014, there were 714 traffic fatalities in Missouri, according to state Highway Patrol records. In 2015, that number jumped to 870.