Missouri traffic fatalities drop 5%; Daviess has one fewer

Preliminary reporting for 2019 indicates Missouri traffic fatalities have dropped for the third year in a row. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 876 lives were lost in Missouri traffic crashes in 2019 down from 921 in 2018, a 5% reduction.
Daviess County also saw a modest reduction in accidents from 2019 to 2018.
Four people lost their lives in accidents in Daviess County in 2018. One of the accidents involved a vehicle, one a tractor, and one an ATV.
In 2019, three people were fatally injured in accidents in Daviess County. Two of those were motor-vehicle accidents and one involved a motorcycle.
Daviess County fatalities
Jan. 2018: two people from St. Joseph, Brent Murphy and Nicole Burleson, were fatally injured in a one-vehicle accident in Daviess County. (Highway 69)
Feb. 2018: A Daviess County man, Victor Morgan, was fatally injured in a farming accident that happened on Feb. 26. (Private property)
April 2018: A Pattonsburg man, Dallas Allen, was fatally injured in an accident in Winston involving two ATVs. (Highway 6)
Jan. 2019: Selvam Babu, 36, Eden Prairie, MN, was fatally injured and an infant received minor injuries in an accident that happened on Dec. 31 in Daviess County. (I-35)
March 2019: An accident in Daviess County resulted in the death of a Grant City man, Charles Florea. (I-35)
May 2019: A Trenton man, Richard Moore, was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident in Daviess County that happened on May 4. (Highway 13)
Fatalities in nearby counties
Several area people lost their lives over the past two years in accidents outside of Daviess County:
April 2018: Constance Huff, 32, Kidder, was fatally injured in an accident that happened in DeKalb County. (I-35)
June 2018: A Winston woman, Margaret Welton, 61, was fatally injured in an accident that happened in Clinton County. (Unnamed road in Wallace Park)
April 2019: Three Caldwell County residents were fatally injured in a one-vehicle accident in Ray County. Kara Frisch, 24, Polo, Andrew Fleming, 26, Polo, and Bradley Ahart, 42, Kingston, were pronounced on scene. (Highway D)
June 2019: A Jamesport man, Eric Virtue, was fatally injured in an accident that happened in Grundy County. (Highway. 6)
June 2019: A Kidder man, Chaz Streu, was fatally injured in an accident in Grundy County. (Highway. 6)
July 2019: A Pattonsburg man, Danny Daniel, was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident that happened in Harrison County. (Highway 69)
Aug. 2019: A small child, Elijah L. Galloway, age one, of Overland Park, KS. was pronounced, after an accident in Caldwell County. (Private property)
No single roadway to blame
No single highway seems to stand out as dangerous in Daviess or surrounding counties when it comes to fatal accidents.
Of the 13 fatality accidents in 2018-2019: Highway 6 had three wrecks; Interstate 35 had three; Highway 69 had two; Highway 13 had one; Highway D had one; one occurred inside a state park; and two on private property.
Long way yet to go
While the modest gains are encouraging, the state still has a long way to go in achieving the ultimate goal – zero traffic fatalities in Missouri.
“Another year of reductions in traffic fatalities is encouraging, but it’s difficult to celebrate considering we still had nearly 900 people killed in Missouri traffic crashes,” said MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna. “The frequency with which we’re losing people simply traveling from one place to another is unacceptable. We owe it to each other to make better choices behind the wheel and create a safer transportation system for everyone.”
Although there was an overall reduction in traffic fatalities, there were increases in motorcycle fatalities and pedestrian fatalities across Missouri.
In 2019, there were 118 motorcyclists killed, a 10 percent increase from the previous year.
Likewise, there were 108 pedestrians killed in 2019 – the largest number of pedestrian fatalities in Missouri the past 10 years.
While weather and road conditions can come into play, traffic crashes are largely the result of someone simply making a poor decision, even if only for a moment.
The top contributing factors of Missouri traffic fatalities continue to be lack of seat belt use, driving too fast, impairment, and distraction.
“Drivers carry a huge responsibility in driving a vehicle, and other road users like pedestrians carry a huge responsibility in using the roadways,” said MoDOT Assistant to the state Highway Safety and Traffic Engineer Jon Nelson. “Nearly all of these fatalities are preventable when we make good choices and resolve to use the transportation system in an appropriate manner. Make the right choice every trip. It may save your life and the lives of others.”