Missouri is on track to experience a decline in traffic and motorcyclist deaths this year. As for pedestrian deaths, those have spiked in the Show Me state.

Jon Nelson, MoDOT’s highway and traffic engineer, said three-quarters of the way through the year, the number of traffic deaths is down 10% over last year.

“That 10%, that translates to 75 more people that are going home at the end of the day this year compared to last year. So overall, we’ve got a little bit of momentum going to Missouri. Would love for us to see us finish the year strong and carry that into 2025,” he told Missourinet.

In 2023, 991 people died in Missouri traffic crashes – a 6% drop compared to the previous year. Nelson thinks Missouri’s cell phone ban while driving has helped, as well as MoDOT’s historic safety improvement investments.

Missouri motorcyclist deaths reached an all-time high of 172 last year. Nelson said so far this year, motorcyclist deaths are down about 33%.

“Now they’re still not down to where they were prior to Missouri repealing our helmet law, but certainly it seems like the message is getting out there that even though riders have the freedom to choose whether or not to wear that helmet, more of them are choosing to do so,” said Nelson.

In 2020, Missouri passed a law allowing motorcyclists ages 26 and older to ride without a helmet as long they have health insurance or another form of insurance that provides medical benefits.

“I think what we’ve seen happen this year is the results have been so deadly since the repeal of that law over the past few years that even those who maybe previously had decided they were no longer going to wear a helmet, they are now beginning to wear the helmet because they’re seeing in real time, sort of the safety impacts,” he said.

Nearly 100 pedestrians have been killed in Missouri traffic crashes so far this year. According to Nelson, that’s 20% higher than they were a year ago.

“It is an area that has been increasing fairly regularly in our state and throughout the country for most of the last decade,” he said. “We set a record high for pedestrian fatalities back in 2020, 2021, and we’ve kind of hung there in that same level of frequency ever since then.”

He thinks back-to-school time, changes in traffic patterns, and shorter daylight hours with people out in darker conditions all contribute to the deaths.

“We’re entering the most critical time of the year for pedestrians and other vulnerable road users,” said Nelson. “You know, you look at the month of October, November and December, and you could probably throw September in there as well, historically in Missouri that’s where the largest percentage of our pedestrian fatalities occur.”

He said about 15% to 20% of pedestrian-related traffic deaths involve people who had car trouble or were walking along the side of a road.

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