LANSING, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – If you are traveling through Grand Rapids or Detroit over the next couple of weeks, be aware that some extra eyes will be watching you.
Starting on Monday, state police troopers will be joined by sheriff’s deputies in Kent and Wayne counties, along with local police officers, in up to a thousand hours of distracted driving enforcement. Data will be collected by Michigan State University researchers to see if “targeted safety messages have any measurable impact on driver behavior.”
Those messages will be on temporary “dynamic message signs” which will flash off-and-on, and can be easily changeable. It’s similar to those used to notify motorists of upcoming road construction situations. It was not mentioned in Monday’s announcement if these messages would also be displayed on more permanent message boards used by the Michigan Department of Transportation on freeways in the two markets.
Kent and Wayne counties were selected for this research as being the two highest for fatal or serious injury distracted driving crashes statewide, with a total of 316 in a three-year span of 2016-18.
The research is by the US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Administration, who is conducting a nationwide probe. A follow up study is slated for next April 5-26.
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