KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Police Department said that compared to this time last year, the city has seen more than twice the amount of fatal car crashes.

At this point in 2021, Kansas City saw 10 fatalities from traffic crashes. In 2022, the number so far is 21.

“Pretty frequently, the person who dies in the fatality isn’t the person causing it,” Mahoney said. “We have a lot of innocent people who die.”

Mahoney points to speeding and driving over the legal limit of drugs and alcohol as the factors to blame for the uptick.

He said an officer recently clocked a driver at over 100 mph on Southwest Trafficway, which is a 35-mph zone.

“Everyone in our traffic unit will tell you that they’ve noticed speed has jumped in the past two years,” Sgt. Bill Mahoney said.

The trend matches the rise in fatal crashes nationally since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The U.S. Department of Transportation reported the highest number of traffic related deaths in 2020 since 2007, according to police.

Mahoney urges safe drivers to take even more precautions to avoid being on the receiving end of a fatal crash, like taking an extra moment before entering intersections and wearing seat belts and helmets, if on a motorcycle.