COLUMBIA, MO : Two deaths in Boone County car collision add to increasing trend on Wednesday, 2nd November 2016

Two women died in a car collision in Boone County Wednesday morning when one driver crossed the median and hit the other head on.

At 11:38 a.m., the Boone Country Fire Protection District responded to the crash on Highway 124 between Hallsville and Centralia.

One woman was pronounced dead on the scene. The other woman died as firefighters from the Fire District attempted to extricate her from a car.

The crash was still being investigated, and the identities of the two victims were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

There have been 11 fatal motor vehicle crashes in Columbia so far this year. Four of those involved a motorcycle, the most recent on Monday when 22-year-old Corey Kramel crashed his Kawasaki motorcycle into a car on an Interstate 70 ramp at Providence Road. There were five motor vehicle fatalities in 2012; six in 2013; and seven in 2014, according to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The Highway Patrol didn't have Boone County fatality data for 2015 posted on its website.

The increase in motor vehicle collisions is largely due to inattention, said Lt. Paul Reinsch, an Assistant Division Director with the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

"That could be talking on a cell phone, operating the air conditioning, putting on makeup or eating," Reinsch said.

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Two deaths in Boone County car collision add to increasing trend