The Battle Ground Police Department is warning drivers that dangerous speeding and reckless and impaired driving continue to increase locally.
The warning comes after a wrong-way collision that killed three people and critically injured a fourth over Independence Day weekend.
Battle Ground Police Chief Dennis Flynn said the fatal crash prompted the department to examine its recent traffic enforcement and collision data, revealing a troubling trend over the past three months.
Flynn added that a troubling total of traffic stops have led to the driver fleeing, which doesn’t warrant a pursuit unless an additional contributing factor is in play, such as a DUI or another crime.
Flynn described one recent incident involving an 18-year old motorcyclist.
“Two-and-a-half weeks ago, we had a young male on a sports bike. He was on a Kawasaki Ninja that was leaving on Main Street westbound going towards 92nd Avenue at about 5:30 p.m., so rush hour traffic,” Flynn said. “He went by our cars, weaving in and out of traffic, then splitting the lanes. We estimated he was doing 140 mph when we lost sight of him.”
With no ability to catch up to the rider, traffic came into play down the road.
“It just so happened that 4 miles down the road, he’s stuck in traffic at 10th and 502, and we were able to pull in before he saw us and get him stopped,” Flynn said. “So he admitted to doing in excess of 120 mph. Eighteen years old, has 30 days of riding experience and had already been sighted on the freeway at 122 mph.”
Flynn added that the rider had no motorcycle endorsement and no insurance.
Following the recent fatal collision in the early hours of Sunday, July 5, police reviewed enforcement data going back to April 1.
“So then, this past weekend, we have a collision with a wrong-way driver, that speed appears to be a contributing factor, that claimed the life of three people, and a fourth that’s in critical condition,” Flynn said. “Which then caused us to continue to look at the citations and the accidents that we have.”
Flynn relayed the troubling trend of recent data in a 90-day stretch that utilizes numbers just reported by his own department in the city of an estimated 24,000 residents. The other troubling idea with the data is the fact that these are just numbers of who have been caught with poor driving choices.
“We’ve had three people that were cited for doing more than 40 mph over the speed limit. Two more that were doing just under 40 above the speed limit,” Flynn said. “We have 10 people that were arrested or cited for reckless driving, 12 for negligent driving, and in just 90 days, they’ve made 1,981 traffic stops.”
Flynn said he has the officers out there conducting the enforcement side of solving the troubling puzzle.
“But those (numbers) are just looking at just 90 days since April 1. Comparing that with our data that we collect on our traffic accidents, and it’s no surprise, but almost 20 percent of our traffic collisions are speed related,” he said. “So, we are seeing, just like our surrounding jurisdictions, such an uptick in speeding issues, reckless driving issues, careless driving issues, and then our DUI arrests have also continued to trend upwards.”
Flynn added that enforcement alone will not solve the problem. Education and accountability are critical pieces to the puzzle.
“We feel that in addition to the enforcement that we’re doing, the very best thing that we can do is continue to try to educate the public and tell them that the police department is out there conducting enforcement, but we’re also trying to get the public’s help,” Flynn said.
Flynn added that no trip is worth risking a life and urged the community to help reinforce safe driving habits, especially among younger motorists.
“Slow down,” he said, adding that “the decisions that they make can have lifelong consequences.”
Flynn noted police are seeing “far too many accidents” linked to “speed, reckless or careless driving and impaired driving.”
Despite increasing enforcement, Flynn detailed that dangerous driving habits have more than doubled traffic stops this decade.
“From 2021 through 2025, the Battle Ground Police Department has shown a 228-percent increase in the number of traffic engagements they’re doing,” Flynn said. “Our enforcement efforts are up, our tickets are up, yet we’re still witnessing these obscene speeds and driving behaviors and that’s why I said we can’t do it by ourselves.”
Flynn said that the triple fatal collision shows that in the “blink of an eye” somebody’s life can be totally devastated.
“We need the community to continue to help us spread that message for parents to hold their children accountable,” Flynn concluded. “For those who are already adults, that hopefully their friends, their other family members, can help hold them accountable.”
