Aug. 31, 2023

Missouri hands-free law in effect

After two consecutive years of more than 1,000 fatalities on Missouri’s roadways, Gov. Mike Parson signed the Siddens Bening Hands-Free Law, prohibiting all drivers from using a handheld electronic communication device while driving, which went into effect Monday, Aug. 28.

Distracted driving is a leading cause of crashes in Missouri. Between 2012 and 2021, there were nearly 200,000 distracted driving-related crashes in Missouri, resulting in at least 801 fatalities. Cellphone use is responsible for far more distracted driving crashes than are being reported, according to a recent report from the National Safety Council.

“We’ve seen a troubling and unacceptable trend of distracted driving crashes in recent years, and sadly, more times than not, someone other than the distracted driver was killed,” said State Highway Safety & Traffic Engineer Nicole Hood. “We’re thankful the General Assembly and Gov. Parson recognized the need for a hands-free law in Missouri. We’re hopeful this law will change the safety culture around phone use while driving and save lives.”

Drivers are now prohibited from physically holding or supporting a cellphone with any part of their body; manually typing, writing, sending or reading text-based messages; recording, posting, sending or broadcasting video, including video calls and social media posts; and watching a video or movie.

“The Siddens Bening Hands-Free Law is an important step toward reducing the number and severity of cellphone-related distracted driving crashes,” said Captain John Hotz, Director of Public Information and Education for the Missouri State Highway Patrol. “The passage of the law provides law enforcement officers with an additional tool to help stop motorists from being distracted by their cellphones. The Missouri State Highway Patrol will continue to focus on educating the public about the dangers of distracted driving to prevent traffic crashes from occurring.”

Several MoDOT team members from across the state volunteered to attend this year's Missouri State Fair to help educate guests visiting MoDOT's Highway Gardens on the Buckle Up Phone Down campaign, work zone safety and more. Thank you to all our volunteers!

Physical ailments are often connected to physical movement. More research is showing, though, that our wellbeing domains are interconnected. Case in point: our mental health and our musculoskeletal system.

When the body is stressed, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to stress—the body’s way of guarding against injury and pain.

With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once, and then release their tension when the stress passes. Chronic stress causes the muscles in the body to be in a more or less constant state of guardedness. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders.

For example, both tension-type headache and migraine headache are associated with chronic muscle tension in the area of the shoulders, neck and head. Musculoskeletal pain in the low back and upper extremities has also been linked to stress, especially job stress.

Millions of individuals suffer from chronic painful conditions secondary to musculoskeletal disorders. Often, but not always, there may be an injury that sets off the chronic painful state. What determines whether or not an injured person goes on to suffer from chronic pain is how they respond to the injury. Individuals who are fearful of pain and re-injury, and who seek only a physical cause and cure for the injury, generally have a worse recovery than individuals who maintain a certain level of moderate, physician-supervised activity. Muscle tension, and eventually, muscle atrophy due to disuse of the body, all promote chronic, stress-related musculoskeletal conditions.

Relaxation techniques and other stress-relieving activities and therapies have been shown to effectively reduce muscle tension, decrease the incidence of certain stress-related disorders, such as headache, and increase a sense of well-being. For those who develop chronic pain conditions, stress-relieving activities have been shown to improve mood and daily function.

Learn more:

1. Stress effects on the body (article)
2. Exercise and Injuries (podcast)

Most parents and caregivers with small children do their best and believe their car seats are installed correctly. Unfortunately, they can be wrong. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, almost 46% of car seats and booster seats are used incorrectly. 

As part of Child Passenger Safety Week, which runs September 17-23, the Southeast Coalition for Roadway Safety, Cape Girardeau Safe Communities along with other community safety partners will host free Car Seat Check events throughout southeast and south-central Missouri. Parents and caregivers with small children can ensure their car seats are installed correctly by visiting an inspection station throughout the area. Locations include in Cape Girardeau, Dexter, Farmington, Houston, Jackson, Kennett, Mountain Grove, Perryville, Poplar Bluff and West Plains.

Certified child passenger safety technicians will provide education, perform car seat inspections, review expiration dates and discuss car seat installation, usage and recalls. Checks take an average of 30 minutes to complete.

Organizations that provided resources to make this event possible include Church Enterprises, Imo’s Pizza, Kohlfeld Distributing Inc., McDowell South RV, Sappington Pro Outdoor, Sign Master, VFW Post 3838 and Wood & Huston Bank.

Motor vehicle injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States, but many of these deaths can be prevented. Always buckling children in age- and size-appropriate car seats, booster seats and seat belts reduces serious injuries and death by up to 80%.

For more information, contact Emily Church at Cape Girardeau Safe Communities, (573) 339-6365, or Ashley Metelski at MoDOT, (573)380-9432. Additional information is also available at www.savemolives.com/mcrs/car-seat-check-event.

Two returning interns joined the Northwest District this summer. Gunner Fergison and Cordell Holland both interned in the district last year and came back for another go this year.

Fergison is a student at Missouri S&T, and Holland is a student at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. They are both pursuing degrees in civil engineering. 

Holland worked in Design and spent a lot of time making maps of new projects and calculating estimates for quantities for those projects. Fergison worked in Construction where he visited project sites with inspectors to learn more about project management. He also ran estimates along with doing project-specific paperwork. 

There is a lot to learn at MoDOT, even in just a few months. One thing Fergison learned during his time at MoDOT is how each division works together to do projects properly and efficiently, which helped him understand how to communicate with others to make a project successful. 

Gunner Fergison, construction intern.

MoDOT’s internship program allows students to get hands-on experience in their future career field.

“I think working at MoDOT these last two summers has given me a better perspective into the different aspects of civil engineering and where that varies depending on what kind of work I’m looking at,” Holland said. 

The mission of Connections is to be a source of MoDOT news

and feature articles that connect employees statewide.

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Editor: Sr. Communications Specialist Bethany Belt

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