Missouri’s traffic volume has almost reached pre-pandemic levels again but higher incidents of speeding and driving aggressively are still a problem. Jon Nelson, with the Missouri Department of Transportation, says drivers began to take advantage of the traffic decline during the earlier days of the pandemic.
When you throw in other aggressive driving behaviors, such as tailgating and improper passing, Nelson says more than 50-percent of traffic deaths last year were the result of aggressive driving. Nelson says the trend has thrown him for a loop.
Last year, there were 987 traffic-related deaths in Missouri, 40% were related to speeding. So far this year, about 840 people have died as a result of traffic crashes.
