VILLAGE OF RICHFIELD, Wis. — A 30-year-old mother and her one-year-old son died in a three-vehicle crash at Highway 164 and Elmwood Road in the Village of Richfield Wednesday morning.
The Washington County Sheriff's Office says deputies were called after 911 callers reported severe injuries and occupants unconscious.
At the scene, first responders found three vehicles with extensive damage and occupants of the vehicles suffering from injuries.
An initial investigation found that a vehicle with the mother and son was traveling southbound when they were rear-ended by another southbound vehicle. The impact pushed the vehicle into the northbound lane of traffic and was hit by a vehicle in that lane.
The mother and son died at the scene of the crash, the sheriff's office said. They are the 6th and 7th traffic fatalities of 2022 in the county.
Highway 164 was closed from Highway Q to Highway 167 for about 4.5 hours to assist in the crash investigation.
The sheriff's office is asking any witnesses of the crash to contact them. You can contact Tyler Lallier at (262) 335-4419 or email at tyler.lallier@washcowisco.gov.
Those who work and live along Highway 164 say it's common to see driver's speeding through. Delaney Beauchamp own Bilda's pub just north from164 from where the crash happened.
"I think people really just need to learn to slow down to be honest with you, especially coming over those hills. I think people just need to be more aware and need to be careful," Beauchamp said.
WATCH: Sandy Dering lives down the road on Elmwood. She's long been concerned about the Elmwood and Highway 164 intersection and fears it will get worse.
"Our big concern is entering 164. Especially when they did the construction two, three years ago, they did these right hand turn lanes and especially when you're trying to access 164 there's a blind spot of somebody in the left hand lane," Dering said. "It's more an issue of inattentive driving. You can become very complacent sometimes since it is such a straight road."
Dering mentioned a new Kwik Trip in the area as well as a planned development off of Elmwood bringing more traffic to the intersection as well. After the fatal crash on Wednesday morning, she's hoping officials will consider putting in a roundabout at the intersection.
"Unfortunately change doesn't happen until an incident does," Dering said.
Between 2018 and May 2022 there have been 47 crashes on Highway 164 between Monches Road and Hubertus Road. That's about a 2 mile stretch. Six of those crashes involved injuries, one was serious. The crash with the serious injury happened at the Elmwood and 164 intersection in 2018.
