Highway patrol urges caution as students return to Missouri roads

As Columbia Public Schools begin class on August 25, the Missouri Highway Patrol is warning motorists and parents to prepare their students for road safety as student drivers return to morning commutes.

According to a press release from MSHP, the state had 834 traffic crashes involving a school bus in 2024. Of those crashes, seven people were killed and 345 were injured.

MSHP's Troop F Sergeant Kyle Green said the buses themselves are generally not the source of road dangers, but rather the drivers and pedestrians around them.

"The buses themselves really don't, are not dangerous," Green said. "It's just the fact that people are not paying attention around them."

Green said that most crashes occur when distracted drivers hit stopped buses or fail to stop when children run into traffic near bus stops. He is advising drivers to leave earlier, reduce speeds in rural areas where buses may be stopped past hills or curves, and follow state laws requiring cars to stop for buses picking up or dropping off passengers.

A 2025 report done by ConsumerAffairs ranked Missouri as the fourth-worst in the nation for teen drivers, reporting a teen driver fatality rate of 22.9 per 100,000. This is nearly double the national average. This report also ranks Missouri as the second-worst in the nation for fatal crashes involving teens speeding.

Green said that with inexperienced teen drivers on the roads, parents should speak with their students about the dangers of the roadway and be vigilant during morning and afternoon school commutes.

"Often kids don't understand some of these things and they don't understand the severity of the consequences, if they make a mistake," Green said. "The parents really need to spend time to make sure that these children, whether they're younger kids or even a little bit older, are paying attention to those things."

Green adds that student drivers may also need time to adjust to the new schedule.

"They [students] find themselves in a hurry to get to class and of course, then speed on the way there," Green said.

Green is asking that parents ensure teenagers get adequate sleep, leave with enough time to avoid rushing, and avoid cell phone distractions while behind the wheel.

"We want to encourage them to make sure all of their attention is focused on the task at hand, which is driving and not trying to make a phone call to their friends or update the social media account or something like that," Green said.

Columbia parent Erin Innes said that while she is in favor of adding additional safety measures for younger students, her local school buses have taken precautions to ensure the safety of the children in her neighborhood.

"I can agree that the buses should have the seatbelts for kindergarten to maybe third grade," Innes said. "I live in a trailer park, so when our bus does, they back up in it, or they pull into it, so the kids are getting on the bus in the park and not on the road."

Green advises all motorists to remain alert in school zones, allow extra travel time during peak pickup and drop-off hours, and follow Missouri's hands-free driving laws.

"We want, obviously, our kids to get there safely, but they've got to know what to do when they approach an intersection," Green said. "A signal, you know, making sure that the indicator says walk, you know, before they walk, or when it says stop, that they stop."