M-10 Reopens Following Fatal Accident During Morning Rush Hour
SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - Authorities have re-opened a section of the Lodge Freeway following a deadly accident that ended up trapping thousands of drivers on the road during the busy morning commute.
The accident happened around 7:30 a.m. Friday on northbound M-10 just west of Telegraph Road in Southfield.
"If there's a place to have a traffic crash, this is probably the worst possible place it could happened. There's just no escape route for us to direct traffic to other locations while still maintaining the integrity of the crime scene," said Michigan State Police Lieutenant Mike Shaw.
Shaw said a vehicle was stalled in the center lane when it was struck from behind by a second vehicle.
"It came behind it, couldn't swerve out of the way in time and rear-ended that vehicle," he said.
The driver of the stalled vehicle was "killed instantly," while the second driver received "very minor injuries" and was transported to a local hospital as a precaution, according to Shaw.
Fatal car accident on northbound Lodge just west of Telegraph. Traffic backed up on the Lodge. @WWJ950 @FOX2News pic.twitter.com/d0u8KcccKL
— Charlie Langton (@charlielangton) June 17, 2016
The victim's identity has not yet been released.
Other circumstances surrounding the crash weren't immediately clear.
"We're in the very, very beginning investigating this," said Shaw. "We want to thoroughly investigate it and then we'll submit a packet to the prosecutor's office for them to make any charging decision."
Northbound M-10 was closed for about three-and-a-half hours as police conducted an investigation, but has since reopened. Traffic was backed up for miles on all the connecting freeways, and some drivers were stuck in the traffic jam for two hours.
CBS Detroit Digital Director Christy Strawser was among those caught in the backup. She captured a photo of a woman who was so fed up with traffic, she started walking down the shoulder of the freeway.
Woman abandons car on northwestern, starts walking. #worsttrafficever pic.twitter.com/XY5UW0FBrt
— Christy Strawser (@cstrawser1) June 17, 2016
"We understand that people are very upset when they get stuck in traffic, I've been there, I understand it, but leaving your vehicle in the middle of the roadway and walking away is just going to get you a towing bill, that's not going to do you any good," said Shaw.
Some drivers got so impatient, Shaw said they drove through the barricade and around the crime scene.
"We had to actually back the closure up because we were having people that were driving around some of the barricades. They were actually driving through the scene and almost hitting some of the troopers that were working out there," said Shaw. "We see a lot of people that try to drive the wrong way on freeway ramps, but that can be another deadly conclusion. We know that it's hard to be stuck in traffic like that, but sometimes you've just got to suck it up and be patient and let us get it back open."
The closure is expected to last several hours. Motorists are urged to avoid the area.
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