Missouri drivers may notice some ominous messages along the state's roadsides.
The Missouri Department of Transportation says it has begun using its electronic message signs along highways to report the number of people who have died on the state's roads so far this year. The messages also include the percentage of those killed who were not wearing seat belts.
The new safety campaign comes as Missouri has seen a 14 percent increase in traffic fatalities this year — an unwelcome reversal after six years of declining fatality figures.
MoDOT says it will update the fatality messages weekly and show them in both rural and urban areas.