2,000 Ticketed For Speeding, Distracted Driving In M-59 Crackdown

UTICA (WWJ) - Macomb County authorities are hailing a month-long crackdown on aggressive drivers along M-59 a success.

Michigan State Police troopers, Macomb County Sheriff's deputies, and officers from Chesterfield Township, Shelby Township, Clinton Township and Utica wrote more than 2,000 tickets during a special enforcement initiative in October; 66 arrests were also made.

Most of the speeding tickets involved drivers going more than 20 miles an hour above the posted speed limit, according to a news release out Monday. Dozens of violations were issued for distracted driving and running red lights in an area known for heavy, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

When the crackdown began on Oct. 1, Shelby Police Lt. Jeff Daniel said many drivers would speed by as fast as 85 miles per hour in a 55 mile-per-hour zone — even with police were present.

The point of the crackdown, he said, was to remind drivers to slow down and avoid distractions.

"People are on their phones, they're doing their makeup, they're reading their paper," Daniel said. "Whatever they're doing in their cars, most of the time they're not concentrating on driving."

Michigan State Police say, based upon motorists' feedback the program "appears to have slowed the majority of motorists down" that utilize the M-59 and Hall Road corridor.

Departments that participated in the crackdown will continue to monitor the area.