Police, fire, ambulance and wrecker crews have a tough enough job to do in sub zero temperatures, blinding, wind-whipped snow squalls and heavy, impatient traffic. The last thing they should have to do is continually check over their shoulder to make sure some errant driver isn’t bearing down on their own squad car or, worse yet, themselves as they stand by the side of the road. It’s getting to the point of incredulity and Michigan State Police are speaking out about it.
Michigan State Police troopers have responded to 183 traffic crashes across southwest Michigan during this week’s unprecedented winter weather. That’s a tough enough job, but they also tells us that the patrol vehicles of five State Police troopers were struck by motorists while policing those crashes. Fortunately, none of the troopers was seriously injured.
Capt. Kyle Bowman is Commander of the Michigan State Police Fifth District out of Paw Paw. He says, “We have put additional troopers on the road to help stranded motorists and those involved in crashes, but we continue to ask that anyone who can limit their travel during a winter storm does so.” Bowman says, “If you must drive during a winter storm, please leave earlier, slow down, increase your following distance and give our first responders plenty of room to do their job.”
The State Police are reminding drivers that even during inclement weather, they themselves are responsible for maintaining control of their vehicles at all times. Additionally, Michigan’s Emergency Vehicle Caution Law, which went into effect in 2001, requires that when drivers see a stationary emergency vehicle or tow truck pulled over with its flashing, rotating or oscillating lights on, passing motorists must move over at least one lane or two vehicle widths. If moving over cannot be accomplished, motorists must slow down and pass with caution.
An amendment to that law will take effect in two weeks on February 13th, 2019. That amendment will additionally require motorists to reduce their speed by at least 10 miles per hour below the posted speed limit when approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with its emergency lights activated.
Bowman says, “There are brave men and women working throughout these storms to respond to emergencies in the most extreme conditions and the risk of death or injury to yourself or others is not worth the rush to get to your destination. Please remember that each of these first responders and public safety workers have families who need them to return home safely at the end of their shift.”
The photos accompanying this story on Moody on the Market were provided by the Michigan State Police and show a small sampling of the kind of damage that is being done by inattentive and/or speeding motorists at the scene of accidents being worked by troopers this week.
