CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — With nearly three months still left in the year, Clarksville has already surpassed the number of deadly motorcycle crashes they’ve seen over the last two years. 

So far this year, Clarksville police have responded to 113 motorcycle crashes. Out of those, nine crashes have been deadly and 70 of the crashes involved injuries. In total, Clarksville saw six fatalities last year, and four deadly motorcycle crashes in 2021.  

Public Information Officer Scott Beaubien said speed has been a factor in more than half of the deadly motorcycle wrecks this year.  

“We’ve had some recently that when…speed was definitely a factor in the motorcycle side, and you get there and feel helpless because there’s nothing you can do for the victim,” Beaubien said about responding to these fatalities.  

Although not out of their realm of job duties, Beaubien said there have been times when officers had to come off patrol to help tend to these crashes. In addition to speed, police are seeing more aggressive and more distracted drivers. 

“The message is to look twice for motorcycles because they are harder to see, but it is also difficult when they are traveling at a speed that’s so fast that people don’t realize how fast they’re going,” Beaubien said. 

When the rubber meets the road, law enforcement urges drivers to put their phones down, pay attention, and think about the lives around them that could be at stake.  

“If it’s a fatality crash, it does have an effect on the officers and the first responders that show up, and you have to deal with this and then you’re dealing with the families and it’s a loss for everybody,” Beaubien said.