Now, there's a renewed effort to put an end to that statistic. Local and statewide agencies want to keep the roads safe from drunk drivers. It's a quest thats epecially important for one highway patrolman.

When I was 16-years-old, one of my best friends was involved in an alcohol related accident. He had life changing injuries. He went from being a star athlete to being a person that was broken and injured and unhealthy for the rest of his life, which took another 20 years," said Lt. Larry Plunkett Jr. of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Plunkett and others helped announce a renewed effort to stop drunk driving.

"Ultimately, and the thing that we want to focus on is that we're trying to reduce the fatalities and the disabling injuries that occur on roads in the state of Missouri," said Matt Myers of the MIssouri Coalition for Roadway Safety.

"You Drink and Drive, You Lose" is a national campaign aimed to stop drunk driving across the country. Missouri receives as much as $15 million every year to help with the campaign, including a mobile breath alcohol testing, or BAT, van that helps at sobriety checkpoints.

In some ways the BAT van is like a booking room on wheels. It comes equipped with fingerprint and breathilizer machines and a mini- interogation room.

Officers say they would rather lock up a drunk driver than see another death on Missouri roads.