Motor vehicle accidents involving commercial trucks are some of the most deadly. The recent increase in Missouri deaths from big rig auto accidents has highlighted the importance of this issue. According to the Highway Patrol, last year 120 people lost their lives in Missouri truck accidents. This is a substantial increase compared to the 105 fatalities that occurred in...
Read MoreWith warmer weather around the corner, Missouri motorists should be on the lookout for more motorcycles on the road. Roughly 40 percent of motorcycle fatalities occur in May, June and July. May is also designated as Motorcycle Awareness month; so MoDOT is hoping to bring awareness to issues surrounding motorcycle safety. Last year there were 81 fatalities due to...
Read MoreThe Missouri House committee is currently considering a statewide ban on texting while driving. The ban has support from safety advocates and many lawmakers. Last year a similar bill was passed by the House, but died in the Missouri Senate. A tragic Missouri texting while driving accident was highlighted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in its national...
Read MoreThe Missouri Highway Patrol has good news for motorists- More big rigs seem to be adhering to safety regulations. Hopefully, this results in fewer Missouri truck accidents and safer highways for all drivers. Although the number of truck inspections last year increased by over 30 percent compared to 2010, violations only rose a mere three percent. What is behind...
Read MoreIt would seem to make sense to think that red-light cameras would cause more drivers to stop at intersections, and thereby decrease accidents. However, a police analysis of Kansas City’s red-light monitoring found just the opposite. Despite almost 200,000 tickets being issued since January 2009, accidents at most of these monitored intersections have not been reduced and have actually...
Read MoreMany sleep-deprived drivers are on America’s roads. Drowsy drivers are responsible for a significant number of motor vehicle accidents each year. In an effort to combat this problem car manufacturers are developing smarter vehicles that can sense when a driver may be nodding off. Ford recently announced that “lane-keeping technology” would be offered as an option on the 2013...
Read MoreThe issue of texting while driving has attracted national attention recently, and Missouri is no exception. Governor Jay Nixon has publicly noted that he intends to make highway safety a priority, and this includes expanding Missouri’s law on texting and driving. Missouri legislators have pre-filed bills for the session that begins in January 2011. One of the bills would...
Read MoreA tragic Missouri accident that happened last year is attracting new attention as the NTSB focuses on the issue of distracted driving. The fatal Missouri texting while driving accident happened when a teenager was texting as he drove his pickup truck. The pickup ran into the rear of a tractor trailer, and caused a chain reaction of crashes involving...
Read MoreAlthough collisions between motor vehicles are usually given more attention, pedestrian accidents can be just as deadly, and are becoming more common. Unfortunately, Missouri pedestrian accidents are on the rise. It is expected that Missouri will experience more pedestrian fatalities this year than in 2010. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), in 2010 there were 57 pedestrian...
Read MoreAuto accidents are all too common on the highways and streets, but thankfully, they have been on a steady decline for decades. This is partly thanks to new technology. More precisely, this is thanks to safety technology in vehicles becoming more widely available over time. First utilized in high priced luxury cars in the late eighties, stability control is...
Read More