Kansas
Car crash deaths fall nationwide, but in Kansas City they're 'destroying our communities'
About 100 Americans who woke up this morning will be dead by day’s end, crushed in steel, or tossed across a roadway. It’s like an airliner crashing every single day.
“It’s friends, its families, its neighbors, it’s coworkers,” said Russ Martin, Senior Director of Policy and Government Relations at the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.
Bad habits from the pandemic are driving up the death toll. Traffic fatalities had been trending down for decades, despite there being more people on the road logging more miles year by year.
The rates fluctuated, but the pandemic brought a 16-year high in 2021 — about 42,915 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The following year was almost as bad: there were only 120 fewer deaths in 2022.
The 2021 jump in roadway deaths was even sharper in Kansas City, where 103 people died on streets and highways that year. That was the highest number in at least three decades (and more than double the number killed in 2014).
In 2022 Kansas City’s total dropped to 90, but then, last year, wrecks killed 102 people in the city. During a year when traffic fatalities eased about 3% nationwide, they jumped 13% in Kansas City.
Risky habits drivers picked up during the pandemic have not abated here, according to police.
“The main causes that we’re seeing is speed, excessive speeds, impairment, and no seat belts,” said Kansas City Police Sergeant Johnathan Rivers.
That’s the big change since before the pandemic: the way people are acting behind the wheel. Speeders tend to be going faster than before, drinkers are drunker, there’s more marijuana and drug use. And of course, people are looking at their phones.
And while distracted, lawless driving is up, law enforcement is down.
In Kansas City, the police department’s traffic control division has shrunk to less than half the size it was four years ago, Rivers said.
“People feel that they can drive any way they want to since they don’t see officers on the highway as much as they used to,” he said.
It’s not just Kansas City. Police departments across the country report slumping staff totals after a wave of resignations and retirements in the wake of the pandemic and protests surrounding the murder of George Floyd. Rivers said traffic control divisions can be especially hard hit because they tend not to respond to priority emergency calls.
There is some good news about traffic fatalities.
“At a national level, they’re slightly down,” said Mark Chung, executive vice president of the roadway practice area at the National Safety Council.
It takes months to collect and verify crash data from around the country, but Chung said indications are that traffic fatalities eased around 3% in 2023, toward possibly about 40,000 deaths. Because Americans are driving more now, that’s a big improvement. But it’s still a lot worse than before the pandemic.
“The delta between that and pre-pandemic 2019 levels is around 6,000 or maybe even 7,000 lives,” said Chung.
And dangerous as it is to be riding in a car these days, walking across streets, or even along the sides of them, is much worse. Last year pedestrian deaths in the United States spiked to their highest number since 1981.
“In the past couple of years, we’ve been in the midst of a pedestrian safety crisis, pedestrians being struck and killed on roadways,” said Martin.
Martin said pedestrian fatalities spiked up almost 80% in a decade, leading to at least 7,508 pedestrian deaths last year.
Some of that carnage is related to factors that are driving up all traffic fatalities, chiefly bad driving habits. But pedestrian fatalities have been rising for years. Car designs and consumer choice are partly to blame.
“Cars are safer for occupants. They have not been for non-occupants,” said Chung. “And in fact, the last 20 years have been more dangerous for non-occupants.”
Those newer, tall, imposing, blunt-faced pickups and SUVs are particularly deadly compared to smaller sedans. They are 45% more likely to kill a pedestrian, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. And they’re popular. SUVs and pickup trucks account for about two-thirds of new vehicle sales.
While the factors leading to increased traffic fatalities are well known, pushing them down is a complex problem. Traffic experts insist it is possible by improving road and vehicle designs, emergency response, and policing, and by somehow convincing 230 million American drivers to be careful. The National Safety Council has staked out a goal of running traffic fatalities all the way down to zero by 2050.
It can’t happen fast enough for people like KCPD’s Sgt. Rivers.
“It’s destroying our communities,” he said. “We see young lives snuffed out. We have to have it stop.”
Indiana’s portal haul continued to grow Sunday as multiple outlets reported the addition of Kansas State edge rusher Tobi Osunsanmi.
Osunsanmi has played in 36 games over the last four years and has 8.5 sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. Most of that production came over the last two seasons. He has a total of 47 QB pressures during his college career.
In 2025 he played in six games and had 20 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He suffered a season-ending injury in October.
He saw action in all 13 games in 2024 as a reserve defensive end and on special teams, recording 19 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 303 defensive snaps and 31 special teams plays.
In 2023 he saw time in all 13 games as a reserve linebacker, a rush end on passing downs and on special teams. He was tied for team-high honors with five tackles on kickoff coverage.
He played in four games in 2022 and preserved his redshirt.
The 6-foot-3 and 250-pound Osunsanmi has one year of eligibility remaining.
The Wichita, Kan. product (Wichita East H.S.) was regarded as the 232nd-best overall player in the nation for the Class of 2022 by 247Sports.
Osunsanmi will help fill the void left by outgoing edge rushers Mikail Kamara, Kellan Wyatt and Stephen Daley.
More transfer portal information:
For complete coverage of IU football recruiting, GO HERE.
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LAWRENCE — The Division I transfer portal window for college football is open from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, and that means Sunday is another chance for the Kansas football program to shape its roster.
The Jayhawks already gained one public addition earlier this offseason in Grand Valley State transfer Jibriel Conde — whose signing was announced Dec. 4. Conde, who is making the jump up from Division II, is a 247Sports-rated three-star defensive lineman in the portal and is listed by KU as a defensive tackle. On Saturday, a number of current Kansas players — including redshirt freshman quarterback Isaiah Marshall, redshirt sophomore wide receiver Keaton Kubecka and redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Blake Herold — also outlined in social media posts on X that they are locked in with the program for the 2026 season.
Marshall is set to compete for the starting quarterback job next season. Kubecka has the chance to step up into a more significant role at wide receiver. Herold is in line to be a key part of Kansas’ defensive line.
Those positives, though, don’t outweigh the fact that there has been a sizable group of players who have revealed their intentions to transfer away. Looking overall, when it comes to those whose decisions became public before and after the portal opened, the significant names to know include redshirt senior safety Lyrik Rawls, redshirt junior linebacker Trey Lathan and freshman quarterback David McComb. Lathan led KU in tackles in 2025.
Check in here for more updates during this transfer portal window about a KU team that finished 5-7 during the 2025 season, with transfer ratings as outlined by 247Sports.
Kansas football transfer portal additions
Jibriel Conde (3-star defensive lineman from Grand Valley State) — KU lists him as a defensive tackle
Kansas football transfer portal departures
Joseph Sipp Jr. (linebacker)
Jacoby Davis (cornerback)
Dylan Brooks (defensive end)
Jaidyn Doss (wide receiver)
Carter Lavrusky (offensive lineman)
Trey Lathan (linebacker)
Tyler Mercer (offensive lineman)
Harry Stewart III (running back)
Caleb Redd (3-star edge) — KU lists him as a defensive end
Aundre Gibson (3-star cornerback)
David McComb (3-star quarterback)
Kene Anene (3-star interior offensive lineman) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Laquan Robinson (3-star safety)
Jameel Croft Jr. (3-star cornerback)
Logan Brantley (3-star linebacker)
Greydon Grimes (3-star offensive tackle) — KU lists him as an offensive lineman
Jon Jon Kamara (3-star linebacker)
Lyrik Rawls (3-star safety)
Damani Maxson (3-star safety)
Jaden Hamm (tight end)
Bryce Cohoon (wide receiver)
JaCorey Stewart (linebacker)
Johnny Thompson Jr. (running back)
Efren Jasso (punter)
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He was the 2022 National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Hundreds of people packed the Gem Theatre over the weekend to celebrate Kwanzaa.
The celebrations run nightly through January 1. Each night highlights a different core value, including unity, cooperation and faith.
The event features local vendors and performances. Organizers say it’s a great way to start the new year.
The Kwanzaa celebration is free and open to everyone.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
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