151 mph driver on I-70 caught in Saline County

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A driver will have to pay more than $1,000 after a trooper allegedly saw him going 151 in a 75 mph zone Thursday morning.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, Lt. Craig Davis witnessed the 2011 BMW speeding east on Interstate 70 in Lincoln County. The trooper moved to intercept the vehicle, but it continued into Saline County.

The KHP says the Salina Police Department caught the driver going 94 mph near the city limits and pulled him over.

According to Trooper Ben Gardner, the KHP ticket will cost the driver $993. He said the 36-year-old out-of-state driver faces an additional cost because the Salina Police Department ticketed him, too.

This incident happened as the KHP and other law enforcement agencies have been dealing with a lot of drivers going over 100 mph:

Driver clocked going 100, after 98 mph ticket last week

Infant, child in cars stopped by Kansas Highway Patrol for going over 100 mph

More Kansas drivers topping 100 mph

Gardner doesn’t know why there are so many more people pushing the limits, but he said one theory dates back to the COVID pandemic. Back then, drivers may have had the false belief that there were fewer officers due to illness, so they could get away with it.

He said a lot of Kansans assume the drivers going 100 or faster are usually drivers passing through Kansas, but he said that a lot of Kansans are also driving that fast.

Currently, speeders just get a ticket and are allowed to drive away if that is their only infraction.

The KHP is asking the Kansas Legislature to pass a law that will create harsher penalties for excessive speeds.

Senate Bill 476 says that any driver going 100 mph or faster will be guilty of excessive speeding. A first conviction would restrict driving privileges for 15 days. A second conviction within three years would restrict driving privileges for 30 days. A third conviction within three years would suspend driving privileges for 30 days.