Seven people died on Missouri highways this Memorial Day holiday weekend.
Lt. John Hotz with the State Highway Patrol headquarters in Jefferson City says the patrol investigated six of the fatal traffic crashes; the St. Louis Police Department investigated one. Troopers investigated a total of 348 traffic wrecks, resulting in 157 injuries. The counting period began Friday night at six o’clock and ended this past midnight. There was an interesting quirk to the statistics: no fatalities were reported on Friday night, one of the busiest periods for traffic.
Hotz credits a special program, the "10 Mile Trooper Project", which assigns troopers roughly every 10 miles on the major highways for a reduction in traffic deaths. Hotz says motorists tend to slow down and drive safer when they see troopers monitoring the highways.
Troopers also arrested 155 motorists for driving while intoxicated this weekend.
Last year, the patrol reported 11 traffic deaths in 330 traffic crashes.
Download/listen Brent Martin interviews Lt. John Hotz (2:20 MP3)
