Lane splitting is a practice wherein motorcyclists ride their bikes between slow-moving or stopped traffic lanes.

While it’s a common sight in some places, it’s critical to understand the specific rules and regulations that apply to it, especially if you’re in Missouri.

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Autumn in the Kansas City area provides a spectacular backdrop for daily commutes and weekend excursions. Unfortunately, the fall season ushers in an array of unsafe driving conditions across the state.

Although it is not always possible to avoid accidents, you may succeed in lowering your risks. An ideal first step is understanding the dangers you could face on state roads during autumn.

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Holidays are usually a time of socialization and celebration. The biggest holidays during the year tend to bring people together. People make travel plans and arrange to get together with their families and friends. Children and adults alike may look forward to certain celebrations and traditions all year.

What those excited about the next major holiday usually don’t stop to consider is how behaviors that drivers engage in around the holidays typically tend to result in a drastic increase in the number of crashes that occur. Severe collisions, including fatal drunk driving wrecks, tend to spike around the most popular holidays.

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Drunk driving is a major safety concern in Missouri. Although most people are aware of the risk and diligently avoid getting behind the wheel while under the influence, there are some people who put their own convenience or enjoyment ahead of the safety of others. Others simply are unaware that the drinks they’ve had haven’t yet metabolized to a safe blood alcohol concentration level.

Some people who have close calls with drunk drivers can spot them and adjust their route to avoid a crash. Others only realize that someone is probably under the influence of alcohol after a wreck occurs. Responding officers may push for the prosecution of any drunk driver who has endangered the lives of others. If prosecutors convict a driver who caused a crash (or they plead guilty), will their conviction prevent a lawsuit brought by those impacted by the collision?

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In many states, it’s been illegal to use a hand-held cellphone while driving for years. Here in Missouri, it just became illegal last month. Even with the new law, drivers won’t get more than a warning until 2025. 

Further, illegal cellphone use will be considered a secondary violation. That means a person can’t be ticketed simply because they’re talking or texting on their phone. They must be committing another violation, like speeding.

An official with the Missouri State Highway Patrol contends that the new law will still reduce dangerous cellphone use while driving. He notes, “The seatbelt law is also a secondary violation, but yet we still have almost 90% of people wearing their seatbelts…[I]f we can get nine out of 10 people to stop using these devices when they’re driving, that’s going to make a huge difference in the number of crashes that we see.”

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A blow to the head in a collision or other event can seriously affect the brain. Even people wearing motorcycle or bike helmets can suffer traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) if their head strikes the pavement or a vehicle in a collision. Sometimes those in vehicles suffer TBIs as well.

Memory loss, or amnesia, can result from TBI. That can happen when the amygdala, hippocampus, prefrontal cortex or other part of the brain that processes memory is injured. When this occurs after a traumatic event like a crash or serious fall, it’s called post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). Exactly which memories are lost determines what type of PTA a person has.

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Many auto accidents are caused by distracted driving. Distracted driving is often the result of a driver looking away from the road, taking a hand off the wheel or focusing on anything other than driving. It’s often impossible for people to not get distracted while performing any task, but it’s typically the responsibility of the driver to focus on their actions behind the wheel. 

Driving accidents are caused by many similar reasons. Drivers can reduce distracted driving and practice safe driving by reducing their distractions. Here’s what you should know:

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Driving in the daily traffic of your local town can soon get old. Thus, you may look forward to the times when you can hit the rural roads and breathe some fresh air.

You should not, however, relax too much, as 2021 figures from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show that rural driving is potentially more dangerous than city driving. 

• Rural driving came in at 1.72 crash deaths per 100 million miles traveled
• Urban driving came in at 1.19 crash deaths per 100 million miles traveled

Previous years also showed a higher crash death rate for rural driving.

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Cars can travel much quicker than humans on foot. It is for this reason that driving is such a popular mode of transport. Road users can get to work on time or visit friends and families in neighboring towns or cities with few difficulties. However, being able to travel at such efficient speeds does come at a cost. Driving requires high levels of concentration, fast reaction times and multiple split-second decisions. This means that there is little room for distractions.

Unfortunately, distracted driving accidents account for thousands of fatalities every year in the U.S. These are some of the more common forms of driver distractions.

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Every vehicle on the road influences the safety of others. However, the dangers associated with certain types of vehicles can result in more significant consequences for others in traffic. For example, semi-trucks have a strong association with severe collisions that can cause life-altering injuries and catastrophic property damage.

Of course, not all vehicles used for commercial or business purposes are far bigger than other vehicles on the road. Rideshare vehicles, for example, are personal vehicles that individuals use to provide services similar to those of a taxi. Unlike traditional taxi services, rideshare services largely depend on mobile device apps and the resources of the contractors that drive for the company. The two big players in the rideshare industry, Uber and Lyft, have long claimed that their presence could help improve safety on the roads.

Is it true that the proliferation of rideshare vehicles has had a positive impact on road safety?

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