By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop H responded to a handful of slide-offs Tuesday morning as a late spring storm dropped a few inches of snow across northwest Missouri.
A Stewartsville woman was injured in a crash just east of St. Joseph on U.S. Highway 36 Tuesday morning, but Troop H Public Information Officer Jake Angle says the morning commute wasn't all too bad, since a lot of the snow didn't stick to the roadway.
"It did affect traffic a little bit," Angle said. "Not too bad. We had a few slide-offs and a couple traffic crashes. Nothing serious. All-in-all, it wasn't very late in the morning, and everything had melted off. It wasn't a major snow event by any stretch of the imagination."
Angle says 3-4 inches was the average snowfall total across Troop H. Kansas City International Airport officially recorded 3.5 inches.
While the snow threat was short-lived, troopers are keeping an eye out for impaired drivers as well.
Troop H conducted a Hazardous Moving Operation in Buchanan, DeKalb, Caldwell and Livingston counties Tuesday, but law enforcement statewide has been cracking down on drug-impaired drivers all this week, especially with Tuesday being '420' - a celebratory day for marijuana users across the country.
Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in many states and medicinal use in Missouri, but it's illegal in all states to drive under the influence of it.
"Part of our (hazardous moving) operation will include looking for impaired drivers under the influence of marijuana," Angle said. "Troopers will be extra vigilant for that, as well as enforcing all traffic laws, especially those violations that contribute to traffic crashes."
Preliminary 2021 data shows that 93 people were killed and 180 more were seriously injured in Missouri traffic crashes that involved at least one drug-impaired driver.
Driver impairment could be a reason why deaths on Missouri roadways are once again on the rise. The State Highway Patrol report 233 deaths on Missouri roads so far this year - up nine percent from this time in 2020.
This includes a seven percent increase in deadly crashes across Troop H.
"What we're concerned about is getting those numbers to go the other way," said Angle. "Traffic safety, highway safety, that's our bread and butter. Just like last year, this year we're going to be conducting hazardous moving operations, click it or ticket operations and enforcing driving while impaired, as that's sometimes a key factor in those numbers."
The increase in deadly crashes continues a trend seen in 2020, where 989 lives were lost on Missouri roads - a 12 percent increase from the 881 traffic fatalities in 2019.
"With the increase last year, we don't want to see another increase this year," Angle said. "So, we're going to do everything we can to get those numbers going the other way. Sometimes, the X factor in that is getting the public's help. We need people to buckle up, and we need them to obey all traffic laws."
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