3 July 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The number of fatality crashes in Wichita is down compared to previous years.
Wichita Police Department Sergeant Brian Mock says so far in 2023, there have been 16 crashes that have resulted in 16 deaths.
“While that is too many to have on the streets, this time last year, we were at 20 crashes with 23 deaths,” Mock said.
Mock says there are two main things the department can attribute the deadly crashes to.
“Most of the stuff that we seen in Wichita has to do with like speed or reckless driving or impairment,” said Mock.
Intersection violations, running red lights, and those kinds of things are also attributions.
Local traffic laws are enforced by the Centralized Traffic Bureau.
“We try and focus on like the high accident locations, you know, where we’re having repeat incidents,” Mock said. “Essentially, since we know speeding is a big problem and a contributing factor in these wrecks, we try to go places we know people as speeding as well.”
Mock says he hopes the WPD’s enforcement efforts are a reason for the lower number of deadly crashes so far this year.
“We’ve also done a lot more education, too,” said Mock. “You know the minor violations, you might not receive a citation, but you might just get a warning from the officer. Any traffic stop like that reminds you to continue to focus on your driving.”
Mock says ahead of the Fourth of July, watch your speed and be prepared for traffic.
“Watch your driving habits as well as those around you because even though driving defensively is super important, so is driving courteously around for those that are around you,” Mock said.
Mock also says to watch out for motorcyclists.