LANSING, Mich. — More car-pedestrian crashes are happening in Lansing and officers from LPD and Lansing Community College are gearing up to put in overtime in order to patrol the problem.
According to Michigan State Police's Traffic Crash Reporting System, 145 pedestrians died last year in Michigan and over 1,800 were injured.
"The office of highway safety and planning did some research back in 2017 and noted that Lansing did have a, what they would consider, a high proportion of accidents within the state," said Sgt. Don Porter of the Lansing Police Traffic and Special Events Unit.
Research by the Office of Highway Safety Planning shows Lansing had 261 pedestrian-car crashes between 2013 and 2017.
The findings prompted the agency to provide mobilization grants to police departments to pay for overtime expenses during Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Week.
"Well it helps the police department because we can take a couple of officers and designate them to the enforcement activity outside of patrol," Sgt. Porter said.
During this period officers will be looking out for traffic violations that compromise pedestrian safety.
Illegal turns, ignoring stop signs and pedestrians failing to yield are some of the offenses on the cop's radar.
"Jaywalking or riding irrespective to the traffic laws," Sgt. Porter explained.
"What we'll do is we'll stop them and make contact with them and explain to them what they're doing wrong and what they should be doing right, and to be in conformance with the laws," Sgt. Porter continued.
Law enforcement agencies in Kalamazoo, Detroit and Warren are also participating in Pedestrian Enforcement Week.
It runs September 5th- 11th.
Want to see more local news ? Visit the FOX47News Website.
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
Download our free app for Appleand Android
and
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox.
Select from these options: Breaking News, Severe Weather, School Closings, Daily Headlines and Daily Forecasts.
