Being a truck driver for a living, Tommy Pate was happy to hear Missouri traffic deaths are down.

"Of course it's going to make a person feel better, that way you feel safer on the road, and maybe people are paying more attention to what they do on the road," said Pate.

By August 10, 2007, there were 598 traffic fatalities in Missouri. So far in 2008, 554 people have died in car crashes, a decrease of 7 percent over the same period last year.

The Missouri Highway Patrol attributes the decrease in fatalities in large part to what it calls the 4 E's: Education, Enforcement, Engineering, and E.M.S.

"Our education efforts, that the highway patrol does each and every year, with either young drivers and individuals that are there. We credit our enforcement efforts, whether they be the DWI saturations, DWI checkpoints, hazardous moving saturations that we do throughout the troops. We credit engineering and we credit our EMT services," explained Sgt. Paul Reinsch of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

"Ultimately, that's where it comes down, the individual drivers out there, following the traffic laws, driving defensively, driving courteously, paying attention to what goes on around them, obeying the speed limit, and driving sober," stated Lt. John Hotz of the Missouri Highway Patrol.

And Jones hopes the numbers keep dropping.

"That way I know everybody's being safe, and I can feel safe out here, and everything. If it keeps going down, that's a good thing, isn't it?" said Pate.

Missouri Highway Patrol officers ask drivers to continue being cautious while traveling, especially as the summer vacation season draws to a close.