Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MISSOURI · SEPTEMBER 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/missouri/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
107 CRASHES IN
MISSOURI
SEPTEMBER 2023
In September 2023, Missouri experienced 107 fatal crashes, an increase of 3.88% compared to 103 fatal crashes in September 2022. The most significant year-over-year shift was a 50% increase in fatal crashes involving driving under the influence.
107
▲ 3.9%was 103
Total Crash Events
120
▲ 4.3%was 115
Persons Killed
64
▼ -36.0%was 100
Persons Injured
6
▼ -14.3%was 7
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (120) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (107) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
Fatal crashes increased by 3.88%, rising from 103 in the prior period to 107 in the current period. Fatalities also saw an increase of 4.35%, from 115 to 120. Conversely, total injuries decreased significantly by 36%, from 100 to 64.
6
Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023
▼ -14.3% vs prior (7)
The number of fatal hit-and-run crashes decreased from 7 in the prior period to 6 in the current period. This resulted in a slight decrease in the hit-and-run rate, from 6.8% to 5.6% of all fatal crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
11
Pedestrians Killed
109
Motorists Killed
0
Pedestrians Injured
64
Motorists Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for fatal crashes remained Friday, with 23 crashes in the current period compared to 22 in the prior period. The peak hour for fatal crashes shifted from 12 PM with 11 crashes in the prior period to 3 PM with 12 crashes in the current period.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Fatal crashes occurring in clear weather conditions increased from 88 in the prior period to 92 in the current period, while those in rainy conditions decreased from 5 to 2. Crashes during daylight decreased from 58 to 54, but those in dark, unlighted conditions increased from 25 to 30.
Weather
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
The top vehicle make involved in fatal crashes, Ford, saw a slight increase from 25 in the prior period to 26 in the current period, while Chevrolet decreased from 22 to 18. Regarding persons involved, the 26-34 age group saw a notable decrease from 51 to 32, and the 16-20 age group decreased from 30 to 16.
Top Vehicle Makes (162 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
5 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (224 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes occurring in 55 mph speed zones decreased from 32 in the prior period to 28 in the current period. Conversely, fatal crashes in 35 mph zones increased from 14 to 21, and those in 50 mph zones rose significantly from 4 to 13.
Fatal crashes by zone: 10 mph: 1 of 1 (100%) · 25 mph: 4 of 4 (100%) · 30 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 35 mph: 21 of 21 (100%) · 40 mph: 7 of 7 (100%) · 45 mph: 8 of 8 (100%) · 50 mph: 13 of 13 (100%) · 55 mph: 28 of 28 (100%) · 60 mph: 7 of 7 (100%) · 65 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 70 mph: 4 of 4 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of collision in both periods was 'The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport,' which increased from 54 crashes in the prior period to 65 in the current period. Angle collisions increased from 20 to 24, while front-to-front collisions decreased from 15 to 10.
Manner of Collision
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
The most common vehicle body types in fatal crashes were '4-door sedan, hardtop' and 'Light Pickup.' 'Two Wheel Motorcycle' involvement remained stable at 26 crashes in both periods, while 'Truck-tractor' involvement increased from 8 to 11 crashes.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 20 reported. 11 additional (17 total) not shown: Unknown body type, Medium/heavy Pickup (GVWR greater than 10,000 lbs.), Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle, ATV/ATC [All-Terrain Cycle], 5-door/4-door hatchback, School Bus, Single-unit straight truck or Cab-Chassis (GVWR range 10,001 to 19,500 lbs.), Convertible(excludes sun-roof,t-bar), Motor Scooter, Off-road Motorcycle, Large Van-Includes van-based buses (B150-B350, Sportsman, Royal Maxiwagon, Ram, Tradesman,...).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
In the current period, 54 fatal crashes occurred in urban areas and 53 in rural areas, compared to 51 in urban and 52 in rural areas in the prior period. Rural areas continue to account for a substantial portion of fatal crashes, with a slight shift towards urban areas in the current period.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
In the current period, 'Other Principal Arterial' and 'Minor Arterial' roadways accounted for the most fatal crashes, with 27 and 25 respectively. In the prior period, 'Minor Arterial' also led with 25 crashes, followed by 'Interstate' with 19, which decreased to 11 in the current period.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
State Highway Agencies continue to own the roadways where the majority of fatal crashes occurred, with 68 crashes in the current period, a decrease from 73 in the prior period. County Highway Agency-owned roadways saw an increase from 10 to 18 fatal crashes.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Type
Drivers and passengers remained the most common person types involved in fatal crashes. The number of pedestrians involved decreased from 13 in the prior period to 11 in the current period, and bicyclists decreased from 1 to 0.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
Fatalities (K) increased from 115 in the prior period to 120 in the current period. Serious injuries (A) decreased from 35 to 24, and minor injuries (B) decreased from 33 to 17.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of persons recorded as using 'None Used/Not Applicable' safety equipment decreased from 121 in the prior period to 97 in the current period. Similarly, 'Shoulder and Lap Belt Used' decreased from 112 to 92.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The most frequent point of impact was the '12 Clock Point' (front), which decreased slightly from 100 instances in the prior period to 97 in the current period. 'Non-Collision' events also decreased from 14 to 12.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 9 smaller categories (17 records): 8 Clock Point (4), Reported as Unknown (4), 5 Clock Point (2), 7 Clock Point (2), 2 Clock Point (1), Right (1), Right-Front Side (1), Undercarriage (1), Left-Back Side (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes increased from 50 in the prior period to 60 in the current period, representing 56.1% of all fatal crashes. Two-vehicle crashes decreased from 42 to 38, and three-vehicle crashes decreased from 7 to 5.
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: Missouri
- Total crash records analyzed: 107
- Total persons involved: 228
- Total vehicles involved: 162
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Missouri Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/missouri/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-09-01 – 2023-09-30
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
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