Anzhe Zhang

“When you’re traveling at higher speeds you’re covering greater distances and so there’s a greater risk of crash involvement there.” 

That’s what Peter Savolainen, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan State University, said in a study co-authored by him and other researchers that studied the effects of raising the speed limit in the state.

The joint study between Michigan State University and Oregon State University found that since Michigan raised speed limits to 75 miles per hour in 2017, traffic crashes have seen a 17 percent increase, and with a higher chance of fatality too.

Now state police are ticketing more and on the lookout for drivers who break the speed limit in an effort to deal with increased crashes.

“With the arrival of the winter snow, that’s going to make speeding even more dangerous and crashes more likely,” Rene Gonzalez, a Lieutenant in the Michigan State Police, said.

“So that’s why we’re going to be out there trying to slow people down and we’re hoping that they’ll think twice before they decide to drive over the speed limit or become distracted,” he continued.

The increased speed monitoring launched its “campaign” earlier this month and is expected to go into the new year.