By LISA OLLIGES

JOPLIN, MO. - The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety met Thursday to discuss goals for the next year.

Presenters talked about the recent battle of the belt between Webb City and Carthage, a truck "no zone" event, and heard from a survivor of a distracted driving crash.

State officials says guard cables and rumble strips have helped highway fatalities drop and missouri is on track to break a record.

"Missouri Coalition for Highway Safety's goal is reaching 850 or fewer fatalities by 2012," says Leanna Depue, the Director of the Highway Safety Division of MO-DOT.  "We have not reached that goal since 1949.  We are certainly again reducing that number again this year.  We are pacing at about a 12% to 13% reduction."

Right now Missouri has 705 roadway fatalities with two months of the year to go.  Last year's death toll hit 960.

Depue says a primary seatbelt law would help to save at least 90 lives.