Three fatal Highway 124 crashes in 2016 happened just a few miles apart
According to Highway Patrol crash reports and previous ABC17 News reporting, four people have died in three car crashes on Highway 124 since August.
The three crashes happened on a stretch of road that begins just before Schooler Road and ends around County Road Jay Jay.
In August, 48-year-old Hamilton Richardson was driving a 1998 Chevy pickup truck when he crossed over the center line and hit a dump truck head-on just before Schooler Road.
In November, 62-year-old Cheryl Kennison and 71-year-old Sally Erickson were killed when their cars collided just south of Shelley Lane.
Saturday night’s fatal crash that killed 55-year-old Ricky McGinnis happened between Jay Jay and Shelley Lane.
The distance between Schooler Road and JJ is about 4 miles. One woman was seriously injured in September when her car collided with a pickup truck near Saturday night’s crash.
While the three fatal crashes happened in just a 4 mile stretch, there have been more than a dozen crashes on Route B and Highway 124. B turns into 124 just past Hallsville.
ABC17 News has spoken with fire officials about the safety of the road in the past. Boone County Fire Protection District’s Gale Blomenkamp said the number of crashes isn’t the issue. It’s the severity.
“We do have I wouldn’t say a higher number of accidents but when we do have an accident they’re usually pretty severe,” he said. “It’s because of the highway speeds.”
Residents agree that speed is an issue on the entire road.
“It’s getting bad,” Victoria Wyatt said in a Facebook comment. “I wish people would slow down and pay attention.”
ABC17 News spoke with the Missouri Department of Transportation in August about the road and MoDOT officials said they did conduct a speed study but found the speed appropriate for the road. ABC17 will continue to follow up with transportation officials after this third fatality crash.
