Family of fallen motorcyclist pleads for caution as fatal crashes rise in St. Joseph
Cameron Montemayor
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — As she stood at the gravestone of her brother Ryan Coffman, a St. Joseph motorcyclist killed by a wrong-way driver while exiting Interstate 229, Chandra Roberts is flooded with the emotions from that life-altering day 15 months ago.
“I think about him every second,” said Roberts, a St. Joseph native and now resident of Bowling Green, Missouri. “Sometimes I carry his ashes just so I could feel the weight of some of him.”
The sudden and unexpected loss of a loved one. It’s an overwhelming feeling of grief that families of motorcycle riders like Roberts are confronted with at a growing rate in St. Joseph and across the state in recent years.
Just weeks earlier in late July, 23-year-old St. Joseph motorcyclist Tristian Plumley was found unresponsive after an incident on the North Belt Highway involving a group of motorcyclists. It marked the second motorcycle fatality this year — both on the Belt Highway — and the fourth in Buchanan County.
“The fact that they have to find a new normal when there’s a missing link will always be something that’ll tear at their hearts,” Roberts said. “That’s what they will leave behind is the rest of their family members’ lives carrying the pain of losing them.”
Chandra Roberts stands by the gravestone of her brother Ryan Coffman in August in St. Joseph. Coffman was killed by a wrong-way driver as he exited the I-229 Double Decker bridge in 2024, one of four motorcyclists killed in 2024.
St. Joseph has recorded a total of 20 motorcycle fatalities since 2020, an average of four deaths each year, according to crash data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, more than double what the city saw the previous ten years combined.
A motorcycle rider herself for the last 20 years, Roberts is deeply concerned by the increase in recent years and a growing number of incidents she sees as preventable.
“There’s been way too many wrecks,” she said. “Every time I see a news report of a motorcyclist’s death. I can’t look at it. It dredges it all back up …”
A growing trend on St. Joseph’s roadways
The increase in annual motorcycle fatalities since 2020 becomes more apparent when compared with crash data from the previous ten years.
From 2010 to 2019, the city recorded a total of nine motorcycle fatalities, an average of one each year, including six years with no fatalities at all.
With 20 fatalities occurring since 2020, St. Joseph has more than doubled that amount in just the last five years alone. One underlying factor among several, according to local law enforcement, is more bikes than ever are seen on roadways now, from larger motorcycles to smaller compact sport bikes.
“That’s why we see an increase in motorcycle accidents in general is because there’s more of them out there,” said Patrick Zeamer, traffic sergeant with the St. Joseph Police Department. “They’re more affordable and just a more common everyday mode of transportation.”
Zeamer’s experience working motorcycle crashes and perspective on the city’s roads is extensive: 18 years with SJPD and 11 years with Buchanan County EMS before that. He’s also a longtime motorcyclists himself, overseeing the department’s motorcycle unit.
Veteran St. Joseph Police Traffic Sgt. Patrick Zeamer speaks during an interview with News-Press NOW in July.
In recent years however, he said a large number of fatal incidents have been at the fault of the motorcyclist, with speeding or reckless behavior often a major factor.
“Unfortunately around here, a lot of the time it’s speed related or alcohol, some kind of impairment related,” Zeamer said. “A lot of times it’s been on the motorcyclist. Just because they’re going unfortunately double the speed limit or 20 or 30 miles over the speed limit.”
When a motorcycle or vehicle eclipses the speed limit by that amount, perceptions and reaction times for other drivers become heavily compromised. He called speeding an issue across the board, not just in St. Joseph.
“They see it, they think they have time to make a turn because (the motorcycle) is blocks away. They’re not realizing how fast they’re really going because they are a small vessel,” Zeamer said. “They close that distance so quick.”
Crashes have occurred in almost all quadrants of the city, particularly on high-traffic areas like the Belt Highway, U.S. Highway 59 and Interstate 229, although fatalities have occurred on lower-speed side streets as well, including a fatal crash last November at the intersection of 18th and Highly streets.
Of the fatal crashes in St. Joseph since 2020, more than 60% involved riders between the ages of 20 and 39. Zeamer said motorcyclists weaving in an out of lanes is another act they see frequently.
This graphic courtesy of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety shows the ages of motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes in St. Joseph since 2020. The table does not include two fatalities in 2025.
“It seems to be the younger generation and that inexperience,” Zeamer said. “Most of them I would say are occurring around dusk to dark or early morning.”
In one incident, a motorcyclist was seriously injured in a crash after attempting to split two different vehicles.
“They’re not analyzing the risk that this could be the last time I do this,” Roberts said, pleading with motorcyclists to slow down and show restraint. “They have to ask themselves the question, are they prepared to put their families through something like that?”
Statewide fatalities skyrocket after repeal of helmet law
From 2005 to 2019, Missouri averaged 97 motorcycle fatalities per year, a figure that has skyrocketed to 147 per year since 2020, including a record high 171 fatalities in 2023.
The increase correlates with the repeal of Missouri’s helmet law in July 2020, allowing motorcyclists age 26 and older to ride without a helmet if they show proof of health insurance.
Missouri saw an immediate jump in fatal crashes without a helmet following the repeal, from 20 fatalities in 2020 to 81 fatalities in 2021. Of the 739 motorcycle fatalities since 2020, 56% of riders have worn a helmet at the time of the crash according to the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety.
In St. Joseph, 70% of motorcyclists involved in fatal crashes were wearing a helmet, much higher than the state average.
This graphic courtesy of the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety shows the number of riders in St. Joseph who were wearing a helmet at the time of a fatal motorcycle crash since 2020.
“I think there’s still a majority of people wearing helmets from what I see,” Zeamer said. “I wear one when I’m working and I wear one on my personal bike because I have unfortunately seen the outcome of not wearing helmets. I still recommend that you should always wear a helmet. Protect yourself.”
According to MCRS, a motorcyclist is 38% more likely to be killed in a crash if they’re not wearing a helmet.
A call for caution
Zeamer and Roberts are urging motorcyclists — especially younger riders who frequently speed or take risks — to follow the speed limit, stay aware of their surroundings and use as much protective and high-visibility equipment as possible to make themselves visible to other drivers.
“It’s a lifestyle that I embrace every single day. But I do it responsibly,” Roberts said. “Keep your head on a swivel. Stop going in and out of lanes.”
Roberts wants to see stronger teaching and instruction enforced for younger riders to prepare them as much as possible for when they begin driving, from parents, teachers and mentors.
“It needs to start with the motorcycle rider. They need to learn from experienced riders. They need to enroll in taking biking courses,” she said. “Driver’s education needs to come back at 15 years old and they need to teach these kids what it looks like … that needs to all start cycling or this stuff is going to keep happening.
She said one proactive technique her brother used was revving his engine at each stop sign he arrived at to ensure other drivers knew he was there, as well as riding always in groups at night to make themselves more visible.
But as incidents like Coffman’s wrong-way fatality on I-229 last year show, the risks for a fatal collision or serious injury are still present even for the many motorcyclists who ride responsibly and take extra precautions.
A motorcyclist drives along St. Joseph Avenue in July.
“He was always extra cautious. His best friend unfortunately passed away on a dirt bike,” she said. “He knew how quickly things could go south.”
Roberts said her husband narrowly avoided being hit by a large Ford F-150 truck this summer that was speeding and swerving on the highway around 10 p.m., forcing him to ditch his motorcycle to avoid being struck.
“He goes ‘If I didn’t react, he would have taken me out,’ she said. “His hands were shaking.”
Even when traveling at low to moderate speeds, a motorcyclist can easily be ejected and suffer serious injuries if it collides with another vehicle or object.
Zeamer said blind spot accidents also make up a large portion of motorcycle crashes where the motorcyclist is not at fault.
“On a motorcycle, the mindset you should have is you should always be scanning ahead, looking ahead at all the obstacles, always watching for oncoming traffic or traffic pulling out of intersections,” he said. “The more offensive you can be, you’re going to be better defensively.”
St. Joseph Police target enforcement efforts
Along with reshuffling staff to have resources on standby for high-crash hours, Zeamer said the department is taking a more data driven approach by carrying out targeted traffic operations at places like the Belt Highway where speeding and incidents are more frequent.
The latest operation took place on July 17 on the Belt Highway, where officers made 61 traffic stops and issued 40 citations during the four-hour effort.
“Ultimately our goal is not to have any at all,” he said. “We’re trying to use data that we’re getting and collecting to enforce those areas a lot better and focus on those problem areas to reduce these problems.”
A motorcyclist drives next to a vehicle on South Belt Highway in July in St. Joseph.