Twelve people were killed on Missouri’s roads over the long Christmas holiday weekend. Lieutenant John Hotz with the State Highway Patrol says those dozen people lost their lives in crashes that happened between Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. and Sunday night at 11:59.
Hotz says the number of crashes was down over last year, from 499 to 306, but the number of traffic fatalities was up to 12 from last year’s eight. In addition to the deaths, there were 128 people injured in crashes. He says nine of the twelve people killed were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the accidents.
As far as drink driving arrests go, the Highway Patrol nabbed 83 people and charged them with driving while intoxicated. That compares to 92 arrested during the 2007 counting period.