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Distracted drivers will likely be getting traffic tickets rather than warnings this week during an education and enforcement effort dubbed Operation Ghostrider.
The concept is simple — a ghost law enforcement officer will be a passenger in an unmarked vehicle riding on Hall Road looking for distracted drivers. The officer then will radio marked police units in vehicles and on motorcycles who will stop distracted drivers.
A ticket could be issued for distracted driving, a fine that authorities said could be around $150 and no points on a driver's record, or careless driving, which carries a heftier fine, depending on the court, and three points on a driver's record.
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"I don't want you to think we're being sneaky," Yesh said, as she encouraged drivers to eat at work or at home, to pull over when dealing with their children strapped in the backseat and to turn off their smartphone or put it in the glove box so they keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. "The life you could save could be your own."
Operation Ghostrider will focus on many busy miles of Hall Road between Dequindre on the Macomb-Oakland County border to Heydenreich around Clinton Township. Officers from the state police, Sterling Heights, Shelby and Clinton townships and the Macomb County Sheriff's Office are to participate in the effort.
Jim Santilli, CEO of the Transportation Improvement Association, said officials are going to keep data on the effort and the idea could be promoted statewide.
He said this week he will be driving while a law enforcement officer who is a passenger looks for distracted drivers. Santilli said he rented a GMC Yukon, which he was using today, but he could use another vehicle, and Yesh said state police have unmarked vehicles that could be used for the effort.
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Law enforcement personnel said they can pull over a driver for texting while driving, running a red light, speeding or aggressive driving, such as weaving in and out of traffic lanes without signaling.
The effort is being done this month because April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Santilli, Yesh and a dozen officers from agencies participating in the operation announced the effort on the Merrill Road bridge in Sterling Heights over a loud and busy Hall Road, part of which is undergoing a $60- million reconstruction project over the next two years.
Yesh said authorities have seen a cell phone in the hand of a dead driver at an accident scene. She herself wanted to count the number of drivers she saw on their cell phones as she drove from Lansing to Detroit one day. She said she topped counting at 20, and that was before she got to Novi.
She said she doesn't have a problem with a driver sipping coffee, but eating or otherwise having your hands full of anything but a steering wheel and your eyes on anything but the road is a problem.
Nick Palaian, an insurance agent for 30 years and a former state trooper, said that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 80% of all collisions are because of distracted driving. The U.S. Transportation reports that drivers who use a hand-held device are four times more likely to get into a crash serious enough to cause an injury; and texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash, according to a news release on this week's enforcement effort.
Violators would receive a civil infraction ticket, beginning with a $250 fine for the first violation. A second violation would result in a $500 fine and one point on their driving record. A third or subsequent violation carries a $500 fine and two points, according to the release about the proposed legislation.
The concept is simple — a ghost law enforcement officer will be a passenger in an unmarked vehicle riding on Hall Road looking for distracted drivers. The officer then will radio marked police units in vehicles and on motorcycles who will stop distracted drivers.
A ticket could be issued for distracted driving, a fine that authorities said could be around $150 and no points on a driver's record, or careless driving, which carries a heftier fine, depending on the court, and three points on a driver's record.
Also read:
"I don't want you to think we're being sneaky," Yesh said, as she encouraged drivers to eat at work or at home, to pull over when dealing with their children strapped in the backseat and to turn off their smartphone or put it in the glove box so they keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the wheel. "The life you could save could be your own."
Operation Ghostrider will focus on many busy miles of Hall Road between Dequindre on the Macomb-Oakland County border to Heydenreich around Clinton Township. Officers from the state police, Sterling Heights, Shelby and Clinton townships and the Macomb County Sheriff's Office are to participate in the effort.
Jim Santilli, CEO of the Transportation Improvement Association, said officials are going to keep data on the effort and the idea could be promoted statewide.
He said this week he will be driving while a law enforcement officer who is a passenger looks for distracted drivers. Santilli said he rented a GMC Yukon, which he was using today, but he could use another vehicle, and Yesh said state police have unmarked vehicles that could be used for the effort.
Also read:
Law enforcement personnel said they can pull over a driver for texting while driving, running a red light, speeding or aggressive driving, such as weaving in and out of traffic lanes without signaling.
The effort is being done this month because April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Santilli, Yesh and a dozen officers from agencies participating in the operation announced the effort on the Merrill Road bridge in Sterling Heights over a loud and busy Hall Road, part of which is undergoing a $60- million reconstruction project over the next two years.
Yesh said authorities have seen a cell phone in the hand of a dead driver at an accident scene. She herself wanted to count the number of drivers she saw on their cell phones as she drove from Lansing to Detroit one day. She said she topped counting at 20, and that was before she got to Novi.
She said she doesn't have a problem with a driver sipping coffee, but eating or otherwise having your hands full of anything but a steering wheel and your eyes on anything but the road is a problem.
Nick Palaian, an insurance agent for 30 years and a former state trooper, said that according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 80% of all collisions are because of distracted driving. The U.S. Transportation reports that drivers who use a hand-held device are four times more likely to get into a crash serious enough to cause an injury; and texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash, according to a news release on this week's enforcement effort.
Violators would receive a civil infraction ticket, beginning with a $250 fine for the first violation. A second violation would result in a $500 fine and one point on their driving record. A third or subsequent violation carries a $500 fine and two points, according to the release about the proposed legislation.
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