MoDOT reports record pedestrian deaths in 2024

KBIA | By Finnegan Belleau,

Finnegan Belleau

Published February 5, 2025 at 4:58 PM CST

Cars drive through an intersection along Paris Road. The intersection forces those walking to cross the street three times before making it to the other side.

Missouri saw a record number of pedestrian deaths in 2024 according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.

148 pedestrians were killed last year, marking a 16% increase in deaths from 2023. It’s the highest number of pedestrian deaths ever in the state.

Josh Parshall is chief development officer for Local Motion, a transit advocacy organization in Columbia. He said many pedestrian deaths are due to people being forced to walk on streets or rail tracks due to a lack of accessible sidewalks.

Parshall said one major barrier slowing road improvement is the need for cooperation between MoDOT and local governments.

“It's not just about the city of Columbia's policies, but on the state-owned roads; there also has to be cooperation between the city and MoDOT,” he said.

Parshall said the city of Columbia has identified several roads to be improved, including Business Loop 70 and the Paris Road/Route B corridor.

But even though pedestrian deaths are at a record high, MoDOT said overall roadway fatalities have actually been decreasing since 2022.

Several high-profile crashes have happened in the area in recent months. But Jon Nelson, a state highway safety and traffic engineer, said this volume of crashes is normal around this time of year because of longer winter nights.

“Around 75 percent of our pedestrian fatalities do occur in nighttime conditions,” Nelson said.

Nelson attributed some of the overall success in decreasing roadway fatalities to a newly enforced Missouri law.

The Siddens-Bening Law took effect in August 2023, and it prohibits drivers from using electronic devices. Nelson said the law addresses distracted driving, one of the largest causes of roadway fatalities.

“It prohibits everything with that phone use now, other than making a call over your Bluetooth device that's hands free or speakerphone or using your phone for navigational purposes,” he said.

Before January 1, officers could only issue warnings to drivers using electronic devices. But now, officers can give out full citations for violators.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said 171 citations had been issued as of Tuesday. Officers gave 1,247 warnings in 2024.