LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. — Police are ramping up patrols on Highway 61 to crack down on speeders.
This comes after a series of crashes, some deadly, in St. Charles and Lincoln County.
"When they made the choice to drive the way they drove, they made a choice to hurt anybody that got in their way, and I think they need to pay for that," Lincoln County resident Roy Cottner said.
Road rage between two reckless drivers on Highway 61 ended in a deadly accident when one of them hit Cottner's car from behind last month.
"He hit us, pushed us, and then, we went across the highway back into the slow lane, off the highway, flipped, turned and next thing I know— I had all kinds of people around me. I found out at the hospital that Patsy had died," Cottner said.
St. Charles County Police are teaming up with Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office to crack down on speeders.
"This is not just a one-day or a one-month event. Safety, excessive speeding, distracted driving are a concern all year long," St. Charles County Police Officer Barry Bayles said.
Officers are focused on increasing their presence on the stretch of Highway 61 between I-70 and the City of Eolia.
"Stopping people for speeding and for distracted driving, and if they need to get a citation for it, they will. If it's a warning they may get that, but we definitely want to make sure people are aware that this is a concern," Bayles said.
"Raise the fines, maybe they'll think about it more, because yeah, it hits them in the pocketbook, but it hit me in my life, and my wife," Cottner said.
The two violators that caused Cottner's accident are charged with involuntary manslaughter and were released after posting bail.
"Because of their inconsideration, it cost me my wife — a mother, a grandmother. I mean these people are never going to see her again, and that ain't right," Cottner said.
This initiative also honors April being National Distracted Driver's Awareness Month.