GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan (Wood) — Following several wrong-way accidents, Michigan Senator Mark Huizenga is calling on the Michigan Department of Transportation for additional help to make roads safer for drivers.
Huizenga has encouraged MDOT administrators to support a $3 million budget reform to prevent wrong-way accidents.
“Standing up to protect our people is one of the most important things we can do,” Huizenga said.
Grand Rapids has seen multiple wrong-way driving incidents in recent months.
For example, in May’s dashboard camera video, The moment a Michigan police officer was beaten When trying to stop a wrong-way driver on US-131.
No one was injured, but this was nothing special.
in April, Dean Elliott, 63A pastor at Byron Center, he was killed in a US-131 when he was hit head-on by a wrong-way car.
“There have been multiple crashes in Western Michigan over the past few months,” Huizenga said. “Obviously there are red flags that things are going in the wrong direction, but obviously not too many. Sometimes there is a device that detects when a vehicle is moving in the wrong direction and it’s not just a sign, that sign lights up and the situation happens. It helps to let the driver know right away that the
News 8 reached out to MDOT for comment.
“As MDOT has been underfunded for decades and ranks last in the country when it comes to road and bridge investment, we fully support any additional funding,” the ministry said in a statement. .
Recently, MDOT installed a wrong-way detection system on the NB-131 exit ramp to Hall and Cherry Streets in Grand Rapids.
The ministry also said some type of driver injury appeared to be the only common factor in the majority of wrong-way driving accidents. MDOT stressed the importance of driver responsibility.
“There are some very complicated highways in the Grand Rapids area,” Huizenga says. “To be honest, some wealthy people and some Franklin people are on the ramp and some are off the ramp and it really confuses me.”
