CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – Four men are hospitalized after a crash involving a pickup truck and a car on U.S. Hwy 17 just before 2 a.m. Sunday. It's just the latest in a string of serious wrecks on that stretch of highway.
Neighbors say drivers go by at speeds of 60 to 70 mph making it hard for them to merge into traffic.
The Florida Department of Transportation says there have been several deadly accidents on U.S.17.
One person was killed in a five-car pileup in January of 2017, a good Samaritan was also hit and killed when he stopped to help a motorist that month, and three more crashes stretching back to 2015 left five more people dead on U.S. Hwy 17.
People who live along the highway say it's a challenge to pull onto the road.
"You gotta wait for a big break then you gotta punch it," Sandy Dauria says. " They have a lot of crashes here".
Other neighbors say the highway gets more dangerous the closer you get to County Road 220, where the majority of the fatal crashes happened.
No word yet from investigators on who may be at fault for the crash Sunday morning or even who was driving the car because all three passengers inside the vehicle were ejected on impact.
No one involved in the crash was wearing a seat belt.
The Florida Highway Patrol is doing studies on accidents along that stretch of U.S. Highway 17 and neighbors say they hope something is done to make the roadway safer.