ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) – There has been a drastic increase in accidents this year in Rockford, and Mayor Tom McNamara said that it is unacceptable.

In the last several years, Rockford averaged about 7-15 traffic accident related deaths. This year, there has been nearly 30 deaths already.

McNamara said that drivers need to slow down.

“This is totally preventable. There’s a couple of things that we can do with this,” McNamara said. “Number one is citizens can help us. You can get off your cellphone, you can stop paying attention to everything that’s going on in your own vehicle, you can slow down, you can put all of your electronic devices down, and actually pay attention to the road.”

McNamara said that the city is allocating about $1 million towards sidewalk and pedestrian safety.