St. Louis Listed as Second Highest Car Crash Prone City in USA

By Zane T. Cagle | December 27, 2018 | Car Accidents, Featured, Inattentiveness, Personal Injury, Wrongful Death

Saint Louis, Second Most Dangerous City for Car Crashes

There are many lists that St. Louis City wants to achieve, but being one of the most dangerous cities for car crashes is a list we would like to avoid. Two Midwestern cities made the list: Columbus, OH and St. Louis, MO. St. Louis is the second most accident-prone U.S. city. In 2016, 940 people were killed in Missouri and 62 of those deaths occurred in St. Louis, MO. Other cities making the list after St. Louis include Los Angeles, Sacramento, and New Orleans

St. Louis City Fatalities and Serious Injuries

According to statistics provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the report breaks down the fatalities and serious injuries by type of crash including factors such as age, excessive speed and collisions with inanimate objects from 2014 through 2016.

St. Louis Fatalities

In 2014, there were 37 total fatalities in St. Louis and 761 across Missouri. In 2015, there were 50 fatalities in St. Louis and 887 across Missouri. In 2016, there were 62 St. Louis fatalities and 940 across Missouri; thus there has been a steady increase in fatalities in Missouri and St. Louis over those three years.

Serious Injuries in St. Louis

In 2014, there were 224 serious injuries in St. Louis due to car crashes and 4,638 across Missouri. In 2015, there were 172 serious injuries in St. Louis and 4,543 across Missouri. In 2016, there were 260 serious injuries in St. Louis and 4,720 across Missouri. Again, these are numbers that need to be significantly reduced.

St. Louis Statistics Broken Down

There are several descriptions that are associated with the higher numbers of fatalities such as aggressive driving/exceeding the speed limit which contributed to 21 fatalities in 2014; 21 in 2015 and 24 in 2016. Run-off collisions (vehicles run off the road) including 14 fatalities in 2014; 10 fatalities in 2015; and 12 fatalities in 2016. Unrestrained occupants contributed to 29 total fatalities over the three years in St. Louis. Young drivers had significantly more fatalities in St. Louis than drivers 65 years of age and older. Comparably, young drivers (15 to 20 years of age) had a total of 20 fatalities opposed to 65 and older years of age had 10 fatalities combined in both age groups.

Serious Injury Crash Descriptions

Run-off the road collisions were most common with 177 serious injuries over the three year time period, and improperly licensed or unlicensed drivers contributed to 173 total serious injuries. Intersection crashes that included a signal had 140 crash injuries and intersections without signals 157 crash injuries. Again young drivers (age 15-20) were involved in 89 of the serious injuries where as the combined age groups of 65-75 and 76 or older were involved in 62 of the crash serious injuries. Distracted driving and inattentiveness were involved in 85 of the serious injury crashes and unrestrained motorists were involved in 70 serious injuries. Collisions with trees involved 35 serious injuries and collisions with utility poles added 20 more serious injury incidents. Other descriptors include aggressive driving/following too closely and interestingly, head-on collisions in St. Louis resulted in 48 serious injuries. These head-on collisions did not include head-on collisons on interstates in St. Louis.

Ways to Prevent Car Collisions

Ways to prevent car crashes and the severity of car collisions are not secrets. Safety advocates have long told us how to do so: Slow down, be attentive, obey the rules of the road, and wear your seat belt.

Slow Down

When you slow down, you are gaining more reaction time, and decreasing your likelihood to be involved in an excessive speed crash. Often, when you slow down, you also create more space in between vehicles, again decreasing the likelihood of a crash. Also, when we have snow/rain/ice in the Midwest, we all must slow down on the roadways to avoid crashes.

Be Attentive

Paying attention to your driving is extremely critical. In so many of the car crash cases we have, a driver failed to pay attention and made a driving error. Inattentiveness includes daydreaming, distracted driving including texting and checking social media, applying make-up, talking to people in the back seat (trying to make eye contact or get their attention), disciplining children in the back seat and any other tasks that take the driver’s eyes off of the roadway. It can wait! Pay attention to the road in front of you.

Obey the Rules of the Road

Simply obey the rules of the road including signage, speed limits and lights. Failure to observe a stop sign or failing to yield causes both minor and serious crashes. All too often, drivers at intersections fail to yield or simply don’t see another car. A driver simply “not seeing” another car happens far too often. Generally, a car didn’t just “materialize out of nowhere” thus, someone had to not be paying very good attention to simply not see another vehicle. Make it a practice to look to the left, right and the left again when at stop signs. Patience is required and quite a number of crashes occur due to impatience and inattention. We can each do something about that.

Buckle Up

Too many studies have provided evidence that wearing a seat belt greatly reduces the number of fatalities and severity of car crash injuries. Yet, Missourians are a group of drivers that still fail to buckle up. If you feel like you live in the “Show Me” state and adhere to that sentiment, it’s been shown! One, the safety restraint keeps the occupants in the vehicle. Staying in the vehicle during a collision is the safest place. Those who are ejected are quite often fatally injured if not seriously injured. The complaint that I find most interesting after someone has survived a crash is a bruise across their chest from the seat belt. I’m always delighted to hear that have soreness opposed to being ejected and killed.

When Car Crashes Occur……..

If you’ve never been in any kind of motor vehicle crash, consider yourself lucky. By car insurance industry estimates, you will file a claim for a collision about once every 17.9 years. So, if you begin driving at 16 and have a long, driving lifetime, you will average a total of three to four accidents in your lifetime. These crashes vary from parking lot scrapes to multi-car pilups according to National Safety Council. Obviously, we hope every one of those crashes are merely fends and NOT serious injury crashes. So, there are some things that you should know:

• You need to be sure that you have auto insurance. It is required by law, but the bigger issue a crash. Whether or not the crash is your fault, you need coverage
• You need to know what to do after a crash. You have a fire-escape plan for your home and business, yet it is far more unlikely that your house or business will burn. Know the steps to take after a car accident.

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About The Author

Zane T. Cagle

Zane T. Cagle is the founding president and lead trial attorney at The Cagle Law Firm. With a strong dedication to his clients, he has built a reputation for his tenacious representation in personal injury cases, ensuring each client's unique story is heard. Areas of Practice: Personal injury, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death. Bar Admissions: Supreme Court of Missouri, Illinois & Kentucky. Superior Court of U.S. Virgin Islands Education: Washington University School of Law. Awards: Super Lawyers, Top 40 Under 40 by The National Trial Lawyers Association, 10 Best in Missouri for Customer Satisfaction.

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