One stretch of Missouri highway has endured three fatal motor vehicle accidents in 2016. Since August, four people have died in three accidents on Highway 124, according to Missouri Highway Patrol crash reports.

The stretch of road begins right before Schooler Road and ends close to County Road Jay Jay.

The first of three fatal accidents occurred in August when a 48-year-old man drove over the center line, crashing his 1998 Chevy pickup into a dump truck. The head-on collision occurred just before Schooler Road.

Two victims were killed in a November accident that occurred south of Shelley Lane. The female victims were 62 and 71. Their cars were the only two involved in the collision.

The most recent accident occurred on Saturday, Dec. 10 at night when a 55-year-old man was killed between Jay Jay and Shelley Lane.

Roughly four miles separate Schooler Road from County Road Jay Jay.

Another woman was seriously injured in almost the same spot as the accident Saturday night when her vehicle collided with a pickup truck back in September.

These three fatal accidents have all occurred within a four-mile stretch of each other, but there have been more than 12 accidents between Route B and Highway 124.

Fire officials have discussed the safety of the roadway in the past, saying that speeds typically play a major role in the crashes, which are pretty severe when they occur.

The Missouri Department of Transportation said back in August that it conducted a speed study of this specific area of the highway, but concluded that the speed was appropriate.

This speed study obviously occurred prior to the most recent fatality and after the second one in November that killed two drivers.

Fatal motor vehicle accidents bring a lot of pain and suffering to the surviving members of the crash and the families of the victims. If you or a loved one has been involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident, it is in your best interest to discuss your legal rights with an experienced Columbia, Missouri, attorney.

Source: abc17news.com, “Three fatal Highway 124 crashes in 2016 happened just a few miles apart,” Sara Maslar-Donar, Dec. 11, 2016