The Bellevue Police Department is launching a city-wide speeding emphasis this month following a fatal crash on May 2, which killed an 18-year-old motorcyclist. Starting each weekend throughout May, dedicated officers will focus on reducing speeding and street racing incidents in response to growing community concerns about traffic safety.
The emphasis is part of a larger effort to combat dangerous driving, as the Bellevue Police Department has already seen a 163% increase in speeding citations this year. From January to April 2025, officers issued 998 speeding tickets, compared to 380 during the same period last year.
In addition to speeding, officers will ticket drivers with modified mufflers that increase vehicle noise, and those engaged in reckless driving or racing may face arrest or criminal citations.
This initiative follows a tragic crash at the intersection of NE 8th Street and 116th Avenue NE, where a motorcyclist, traveling at high speed, collided with another vehicle, resulting in the motorcyclist’s death despite life-saving efforts.
The driver of the other vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Speeding-related crashes remain a significant concern in the region, with 42 fatal or serious injury crashes in Bellevue from 2014-2023.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration emphasizes that speeding jeopardizes everyone’s safety, and Bellevue police hope this targeted effort will help reduce traffic violations and improve community safety.
While the gesture is appreciated, this needs to be more than a few weekends in May. If you live on or near 156th Ave NE, you hear these people running up and down the street at night, up to 02:30 am. Then they come in the middle of the day, first thing in the morning, sometimes even before most people are awake. Motorcycles, modified racers, complete morons who feel entitled to drive as fast and loud as they want because it’s a straight stretch of road. Everyone else be damned.
The speed limit is clearly and prominently posted from NE 24th St to NE 8th St – 30 MPH. I’m amazed more people haven’t died or been seriously injured on this road. Too many reckless “adults” drive along at top speeds and decibel levels. I hope this can be more than a “May initiative,” because they need to be hounded until they stop or lose their licences.