Eight Traffic Fatalities Reported Over Memorial Day Holiday

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said eight people were killed and 99 were injured in 234 traffic crashes during the 2026 Memorial Day holiday counting period, which began at 6 p.m. Friday, May 22, and ended at 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 25. Colonel Michael A. Turner, superintendent of the patrol, released the preliminary figures Tuesday as Missourians returned from one of the state’s busiest travel weekends.

According to the patrol, troopers recorded 107 driving-while-intoxicated arrests over the holiday period. On Missouri waterways, officers investigated four boating crashes that resulted in six injuries, but reported no boating fatalities and no drownings. The patrol also made seven boating-while-intoxicated arrests.

The 2026 holiday numbers were higher than the patrol’s 2025 Memorial Day counting period, when troopers investigated 203 traffic crashes involving three fatalities and 92 injuries.

In a broader statewide comparison for 2025, four people were killed and 356 were injured in 868 vehicle crashes, while three boating crashes were investigated across Missouri. The patrol emphasized that the 2026 statistics remain preliminary and could change as additional reports are received.

KPGZ News – Brian Watts contributed to this story.