Two months ago, Missouri was on track to have more traffic deaths in 2025 than the previous year.
“We had several press events around the state, and shortly after that, our trajectory of fatality and serious injury crashes in Missouri went down,” said Missouri Department of Transportation Director Ed Hassinger.
Preliminary data says the state ended up having fewer roadway deaths last year – 911 – compared to 955 in 2024. The new figures represent a 5% decline and the third year in a row that Missouri roadway deaths have declined. The last time this trend occurred was 2019.
During a news conference Tuesday in Jefferson City, Hassinger, Gov. Mike Kehoe, and other state partners said the preliminary numbers are a significant milestone in the state’s ongoing effort to improve roadway safety.
Despite that, Kehoe said there’s more work to be done.
“Losing more than 900 people each year on our roadways is very much unacceptable. Every number is a person. Every life loss is a family and a community that’s forever changed,” said the governor.
A key piece of that work is in the form of a new campaign unveiled at the news conference: the Show-Me Zero plan. MoDOT says the statewide roadmap aims to reduce traffic fatalities through education, enforcement, engineering and emergency response.
“Now that Missouri has achieved three years in a row of declining roadway fatalities, how do we keep those numbers from ticking back up? And more importantly, how do we continue driving those numbers down? How do we achieve that fourth year in a row of progress,” asked Jon Nelson, MoDOT’s Highway Safety and Traffic engineer.
The unified message among the speakers was the figures serve as a call for continued action to save lives and a reminder that it will take a team effort.
“To keep moving forward, we need every community, every school, every business, and every family to join us in following the strategies in our updated Show-Me Zero plan,” said Nelson.
They said the community can take simple steps to help with the Show-Me Zero goal: buckle up, put the phone down, safer vehicles, slow down, especially in work zones, safe infrastructure, and safer, effective, and timely responses to crashes.
“It is our last line of defense,” Nelson said.
To view the Show-Me Zero plan, click here.
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