Were people paying attention....

MO-109 is such a long route. With the recent events of adding traffic circles to help lower the accident rates - not sure any of those accidents would have been prevented. People need to learn to come to a controlled stop and look both ways. People are in such a hurry these days. With the way people drive, there is bound to be more accidents after those traffic circles go in simply because people do not know how or understand how to drive in them. I have avoided at least 2 accidents in that circle in a 2 year span when that use to be a common way for me to go everyday. Anytime I use the traffic circle I approach with caution - thinking every driver is going to hit my car. Just the other day, I was at a 4 way stop, and this person never once stopped - thought for sure they were going to hit the side of my car. The worst part, they were on their cell phone and should have been paying attention to the stop sign and driving...not chatting on the phone.

Good observation about the potential influence of cell phone usage, Catherine Brzezinski; that could be a significant impact. These accidents seem to coincide with Back-To-School time, too. I've been wondering if switching back out of summer schedules for all ages of drivers has had anything to do with this.

Teenagers on the phone...or anyone on the phone is dangerous. I drive by Lafayette in the morning and I can't tell you how many kids or their parents are on the phone. Great examples for the kids, right?