Driver busted going 165 mph in Kansas by state troopers in biggest speeding violation of 2024
TOPEKA (KSNT) - Kansas state troopers busted more than 2,600 drivers for speeding over 100 mph last year, including one who was caught going above 160 mph.
27 News reached out to the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) this month to learn how many drivers were cited for excessive speeds in the Sunflower State last year. April McCollum with the KHP said troopers issued a total of 2,630 citations over the course of 2024. Full statistics on how many drivers have been ticketed for going above 100 mph over the last decade can be found below:
- 2023 – 3,080
- 2022 – 3,285
- 2021 – 3,309
- 2020 – 2,823
- 2019 – 1,758
- 2018 – 2,028
- 2017 – 2,218
- 2016 – 2,114
- 2015 – 1,837
- 2014 – 1,399
- 2013 – 1,049
"Excessive speed continues to occur at alarming rates across the State of Kansas," McCollum said.
One driver was cited for going 165 mph in Cowley County, the highest speeding violation recorded in Kansas last year by the KHP. State troopers issued the most citations for people going above 100 mph in the northwest part of the state, though the issue is widespread and not tied to any one particular area.
"With excessive speeding, all it takes is one preventable mistake and the wrong location, wrong time," McCollum said. "It just takes that one time. The laws of Physics take over, and the human body just can’t withstand some of these catastrophic collisions. If you drive 100 mph, you travel 146 feet per second. That’s half a football field in the blink of an eye."
Drivers caught and ticketed for going at such high speeds over face big fines for their violations. A driver in Ottawa County in December 2024 was told to pay nearly $400 after being caught going 101 mph in a 65 mph zone. A state trooper ticketed a different driver in August 2024 for going 102 mph in a 55 mph construction zone near Topeka, resulting in a fine of $900.
McCollum said current state law requires fines to be issued to people caught driving at such dangerous speeds. However, excessive speeding alone is not enough to result in an arrest.
"Speed violations, no matter the speed, are an infraction and are regulated by the statutory fine schedule," McCollum said.
The KHP encourages people to drive as if they have family members in every vehicle on the road to help ensure everyone reach their destinations safely. Speeding can lessen the effectiveness of seatbelts and airbags while also leading to a greater chance of deadly crashes on the road when coupled with wet or icy road conditions.
"When one’s speed doubles, one’s stopping distance quadruples, making every increase in speed an exponentially more dangerous act," McCollum said. "Speeding increases the degree of a crash’s severity. As more force comes into the crash equation, there are more likely to be injuries and death. Speeding also puts the lives of our law enforcement personnel in peril as they must oftentimes exceed the speed of the violator’s vehicle in order to initiate a traffic stop."
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