For the month of January, Michigan State Police – 5th District Troopers in southwest Michigan (comprising of Berrien, Cass, Van Buren, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph, Calhoun, Branch, Allegan, and Barry Counties) spent a significant amount of time policing traffic crashes related to a harsher than normal winter weather season.

On one evening in particular, 16 semis and several passenger cars were involved in crashes on a four-mile stretch of Interstate 94 near Hartford, Mich. in Van Buren County. Portions of the freeway were shut down for up to six hours while the wreckage was removed.  Due to the magnitude of this event, troopers were called in from Niles, Wayland and Coldwater to assist the Paw Paw Post.

With the evolution of the State Police Regional Policing Model, we were able to rapidly deploy the necessary resources to manage this event without negatively impacting services to local communities.

The Michigan State Police rely on partnerships with the Michigan Department of Transportation and local county road commissions to maintain the roadways in Michigan for safe travel for all motorists. This harsh winter\de their efforts especially challenging and motorists are reminded that salting of ice-covered roads is not effective at temperatures below 10 degrees.

Troopers policing traffic crashes depend upon drivers’ ability to maintain control of their vehicles at all times.  Drivers should always use extreme caution when traveling on snow and ice covered surfaces.  Windy conditions and heavy lake effect snow can generate whiteout conditions which can drop visibility to zero in a moment’s notice.