Missouri Highway Patrol Issues Stern Warnings About 4th of July

The Missouri State Highway Patrol wants the upcoming 4th of July holiday to be a happy and safe one, but that hope comes with some stern warnings about what has happened in past years and what potentially can happen this year.

As I've shared before, I have many friends and family that have been involved at different levels with law enforcement in Missouri and that's one of the many reasons why I pay special attention when those officers are trying to bring alerts about dangerous situations.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol shared a press release that included some very somber numbers. Look at the numbers of what happened in Missouri during last year's July 4th holiday:

• 1,505 traffic crashes
• 646 injured
• 15 people were killed

The press release goes on to say that "troopers arrested 125 people for driving while intoxicated".

The problems both in the past and potentially this year's upcoming 4th of July holiday are not limited to the roads either. Last year over the 4th of July holiday, there were 11 boating crashes in Missouri with at least 2 injuries.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol shared one final alert for boaters reminding everyone that it is illegal to discharge fireworks from a vessel (yes, that means boats).

The overall message from Missouri's Highway Patrol is for everyone to celebrate safely, but hopefully the horrific accident numbers from last year's holiday will help everyone to be more mindful of how a fun national holiday can become tragic.