Tulsa Police: More Drivers Speeding Along Riverside Leads To Crashes, Deaths

Tulsa police said they are dealing with a double whammy on Riverside Drive, more people are using it to avoid construction on I-44 and Highway 75 and more people are speeding on Riverside.

The speed limit in one stretch of Riverside is 40 miles per hour, but police see people going 20 over that.

“I do always notice people speeding or the frustrations of people speeding. So they’ll like zoom passed in the left lane because it’s kind of like another highway in some sense," said Ashley McPheters.

She said she uses Riverside at least three times a week to get to the park near 41st and Riverside and said speeding is out of control.

“We’ve got cars that are bursting into flames and then going off-road into the creek or into the river. These are huge, huge crashes that shouldn’t be happening at what should be a normal city street speed," said Sergeant Will Dalsing.

Sergeant Dalsing is the Riverside Division Traffic Supervisor and said their division investigated 21 deadly crashes in 2021 and three of them were on Riverside.

“Riverside Drive is a wider road for the most part. It runs alongside a park with a relatively low-speed limit, yet people are doing extreme speeds on Riverside at all times of the day including rush hour," said Sergeant Dalsing.

Investigators said speed was a factor in an accident that happened Monday on Riverside that sent two people to the hospital. Sergeant Dalsing said the driver in one deadly accident that happened near 31st and Riverside in November was going 100 miles an hour.

“What if you’re trying to switch into the right-hand lane and the person is trying to get around you but they’re going so fast. So that’s definitely an alarming experience that I’ve had before," said McPheters.