SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — The Missouri State Highway Patrol released statistics for crashes and fatalities for the holiday weekend, which were nearly a third of what they were last year.

The MSHP considers the holiday weekend to be from 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 23, to 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 26. During these 78 hours, three people were killed and there were 306 traffic crashes. The three fatalities were:

• Kristan R. Price, 26, of Florence. The crash occurred in Morgan County on Dec. 24.
• Samuel M. Mitchell, 63, of Joplin. The crash occurred in Newton County on Dec. 25.
• Susan C. Graham, 73, of Arcola. The crash occurred in Camden County on Dec. 26.

In the same period of time in 2021, there were 881 crashes and eight fatalities. This year, there were 84 traffic crash injuries. In 2021, there were 401. There were more crashes and injuries on Christmas Day alone in 2021 than there was the entire holiday weekend this year.

It should be noted that the number of fatalities could increase if deaths occur as a result of accidents that occurred over the holiday weekend.