Missouri crash deaths increase 11 percent
More than 780 people have died on Missouri roadways in 2015 as of December 1.
That is nearly 80 more deaths compared to the same time in 2014.
The increase goes against the general downward trend of crash deaths over the last ten years.
“Over the last 10 years from about 2006 to 2015, the fatalities have been going down quite a bit,” Lt. Paul Reinsch with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said. “This year they’re up again 11 percent, which is a concern.”
Right now, the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety is rewriting the five-year strategic highway safety plan, which is also known as the Blueprint to Save More Lives.
The group rewriting the plan is made up of law enforcement officers, educators, engineers and emergency medical personnel from across the state. Sgt. Doug Ruediger, the head of Jefferson City Police Department’s traffic unit, is one of those committee members.
“We have the enforcement side of it and that’s a major component,” Ruediger said. “But awareness and just people taking responsibility for their driving, getting the word out, education and awareness. That’s an area that I think maybe we as police officers haven’t done as good a job, but we’re striving to do better.”
The group will present the new strategic plan in Oct. 2016. And it will take effect Jan. 1, 2017.
Whitfield said there is still a lot of work to be done, but the group has discussed several options to bring down the number of crash deaths.
“Those are the median guard cables that have gone up on the highways, the edge line, center line rumble strips,” Whitfield said. “And then strong enforcement programs that we have.”
The Missouri Blueprint to Save More Lives had a goal to reduce crash deaths to 700 or fewer by 2016. Right now, the state is not on track to reach that goal with more than 80 deaths above that number so far in 2015.
