When I first moved to the City of St. Louis, I became instantly aware of the danger of driving in the city. Frankly, I have seen some maneuvers on the road that you would not even believe—some of them are just close calls, but too many turn into fatal crashes. Recently, Forbes Advisor released a ranking of the 50 riskiest states to drive in. Missouri received the silver medal, coming in as the second- riskiest state to drive in. My anecdotes are supported in the data. There have been improvements, but the city needs stronger enforcement in the courts and on the streets.
Forbes’s data were compiled from an array of federal organizations, including the FBI. The rankings are based on fatal accident rates, DUI arrests, road rage incidents, car thefts, risk of wildlife collision, condition of roads, and more.
Breaking the rankings down further, Missouri has the:
- 5th highest rate of car thefts
- 6th highest percentage of drivers who experienced a road rage incident
- 10th highest number of drunk drivers involved fatal car crashes
- 10th highest wildlife collision risk
- 12th highest number of people killed in fatal car accidents
The City of St. Louis likely contributes to the overall high riskiness measured in Forbes’s metric. Last year, I wrote a post during the height of mass Hyundai and Kia thefts, when thefts of those two brands soared from 273 to 3,958 in one year. During a two-week period in that August, there were 462 cars stolen or attempted to be stolen in the City of St. Louis, yet shockingly, only 1 person was charged in city courts for a crime related to auto theft over that same time period.
I’ve lived in the city for two years now, and I still haven’t seen someone in the city get pulled over for driving into oncoming traffic or running red lights. The data confirm this observation, as vehicle stops, citations, and arrests in the city have all greatly decreased.
Since 1995, the City of St. Louis has lost 22% of its residents and 40% of its police force. Police staffing shortages are real in the city. In 2024, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department is budgeted to have 1,220 officers on staff, but currently only has 894.
For a city that is shrinking, the reputation and reality of having unsafe roads is a huge problem. It is imperative for St. Louis and Missouri at-large that we make a U-turn and make our roads safer.
