More than 100 million people are expected to travel for the holiday season. The overwhelming majority of those are taking to the road.
With that comes a greater risk for crashes, says Sgt. Bill Lowe with the Missouri Highway Patrol.
Last Christmas troopers worked 1,100 crashes over just a couple days. They weren’t all major wrecks, but were due to the high number of people out on the roadway.
Lowe says using commonsense driving skills will reduce those numbers.
- Watch the speed limit
- Don’t tail drivers too close
- Know that everyone is trying to get to their destination just like you
- If you need to make a call or send a text, have someone else in the car do it
- Don’t drink and drive
- Wear your seatbelt
Lowe said 63% of fatalities are due to someone not wearing their seatbelt. Traffic fatalities are up this year from last year in Missouri.
The highway patrol will have more enforcement on the roads from now until January 3 to nab anyone drinking and driving.
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Sarah Plake can be reached at sarah.plake@kshb.com.
