Excessive speed cited in two Kansas City motorcycle fatalities

Kansas City police are investigating two fatal motorcycle wrecks that occurred over the weekend.

The first was reported just before 2 a.m. Saturday on 23rd Street just west of Blue Ridge Boulevard.

Police said that 40-year-old David L. Martes, of Independence, was operating a Suzuki motorcycle west at a “high rate of speed” when he lost control and was thrown from his bike. He died at the scene.

The second crash occurred about 7:30 p.m. Sunday at 89th Street and Wornall Road.

Police reported that the motorcyclist was traveling at a high rate of speed south on Wornall when his Harley Davidson struck the driver’s side of an SUV pulling out of a restaurant parking lot.

The biker, whose identity has not been released, died at the scene. The SUV driver was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Both incidents remained under investigation Monday. They were the 53rd and 54th traffic fatalities in Kansas City this year.

This story was originally published October 12, 2015 at 11:01 AM with the headline "Excessive speed cited in two Kansas City motorcycle fatalities."