GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — After multiple crashes on I-96 in Ionia County, officials are reminding people to not drive distracted and slow down, especially in construction zones.
On Monday, MSP troopers and Ionia County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to several crashes on both Eastbound and Westbound I-96 near Alden Nash and Morrison Lake in construction zones.
“Any time you have one crash, that's one two many,” said Michigan State Police Public Information Officer for the 6th district, Michelle Robinson.
"We've got eyewitnesses saying that the trucks are leaving their lane. There are no skid marks with rear-end crashes. So, these all are signs that people aren't even looking through the windshield. They're not paying attention,” said MDOT communications director John Richard.
It's not just happening in Ionia County.
Robinson and Richard said this issue is happening all over the state.
When people drive distracted in places like construction zones, it creates a domino effect of mess.
“They’re looking at their phones down in their laps or in the center console, so they're not paying attention to the road ahead of them. And then what happens is the traffic will then suddenly stop because of a construction zone, and that's where our rear-end collisions occur,” said Robinson.
But it's not just people playing or distracted by their phones. On Monday, people were paying attention to one crash, while creating other crashes.
“Why that happened is because you have one crash, and people like to see the crash as they're driving by in the opposite direction. So now they're not paying attention to the road ahead of them, because they're watching the opposite flow of traffic, or lack thereof, and so now they're crashing on the opposite side," Richard said.
Richard says this problem has been an issue for decades, even before cellphones came around.
And the solution is nothing new either.
"There's so many reasons, but if you just slow down and look where you're going. That's key. It's key to look where you're going when you're driving,” said Richard.
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