MICHIGAN, USA — As the 4th of July approaches the roads are busy, and drivers can expect to see more troopers on the road with their radar guns tracking people’s speed. Michigan State Police said a lot of speed related crashes could be avoided if people paid attention on the road.
"If people aren't paying attention, or they're exceeding the speed limit, they don't have that time to react. That's where a lot of our rear-end collisions occur," said Michigan State Police Public Information Officer, Lieutenant Michelle Robinson.
While many drivers' "need for speed" runs high, the Michigan State Police will be using their radar guns to slow them down.
"Into the Fourth of July weekend, officers from around the state, both local, county and state troopers, are out doing a speed safety initiative through the office of highway safety planning," said Robinson.
Robinson said going the speed limit seems slow for drivers these days.
In 2022 alone, close to 27,000 crashes in Michigan involved speeding— an 8.7 percent increase from the previous year.
"We're still seeing a lot of individuals on their cell phones, and we've had the hands free law going into effect for year and a half now and what we want is people to remain focused on the roadway," said Robinson.
After two deadly crashes on Lake Michigan Drive just last month, Robinson is urging people to drive the speed limit, wear their seatbelt and stay focused on the road.
"We want to make sure that individuals are driving safely and that they're driving the speed limits and they're wearing their safety belts. We're always looking at that as well to ensure that we don't have any fatalities this weekend," said Robinson.
She said one of the most difficult parts of the job is responding to a deadly crash, then having to deliver the news to loved ones. It's something even an officer gets emotional about.
"It's absolutely heartbreaking, even us as police officers, people might look at us saying well, you're out there just writing tickets. We're human, we're parents, and we don't want to see our family members end up in a crash or severely injured or even killed in a crash. Nor do we want that for our public either," said Robinson.
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