Michigan State Police speak on preventing wrong-way crashes after deadly crash in Metro Detroit
(CBS DETROIT) - Four people were killed in a wrong-way crash over the weekend. The at-fault driver was killed along with three people in the vehicle he hit.
Law enforcement says an investigation is underway into what caused a 29-year-old man from Oak Park to get on I-75 and drive the wrong way.
"There's a lot of signs on those ramps already. That says, 'wrong way' 'don't go this way,' and all that. And then it's also an unnatural turn to actually try to maneuver yourself onto the freeway, going the wrong way onto that ramp. So a lot of times, and we're not sure if that's the case in this one yet, a lot of times those people are either impaired, having a medical emergency, or else they're distracted," said Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw.
Shaw said they received 911 calls about the wrong-way driver. Just before 3 a.m. on Sunday, the driver crashed into a minivan near 11 Mile Road in Royal Oak before law enforcement could reach him.
The wrong-way driver and three of the four minivan passengers died at the scene. The van passengers were ages 34, 54, and 71.
Shaw said the one survivor of the crash has undergone surgery and is still hospitalized. He said one way to protect yourself from wrong-way drivers is to stay out of the left lane.
"Because for a wrong-way driver, that's the right lane to them. And they think they might be driving in the right lane."
If you ever see the headlights of a wrong-way driver, pull over, call 911, and be aware of where you are.
"We just ask for what highway you're on, what direction you're going, and what's the exit that you just passed. We don't expect you to find the mile marker or anything like that. We just want those very basics. If you have a description of the car, that's great; if you don't, just enough to let us know where it's going so we can catch up with it either on those freeway cameras or at least get troopers heading that direction."
The Michigan Department of Transportation is also installing cameras that could detect wrong-way drivers at eight entrance ramps in Oakland and Wayne counties.
"While it may not be foolproof, any little thing is going to help," said Shaw.
He said over the past few years, more than 1,000 people have died on Michigan roadways.
"If there was another cause, other than a traffic crash, people would be outraged to know that a thousand people died. But it seems for some reason drivers accept the death on the roadways as just a traffic crash. And I think we've got to change that mindset, where people understand that when you get behind the wheel of a car, not only are you taking your life under that wheel, other people's lives as well."
He said the hardest part for them is that these traffic deaths are preventable. He asked drivers to slow down and not drive distracted or impaired.
