Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

To kickoff Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Michigan State Police on Tuesday partnered with the Indiana State Police, Ontario Provincial Police and local law enforcement agencies to conduct a coordinated traffic safety initiative titled, “Lake to Lake, Focused and Safe.”

The enforcement initiative included high-visibility saturation patrols along the I-94 corridor beginning in Indiana and continuing across Michigan to Port Huron, extending into Canada along Highway 401 from the Ambassador Bridge to Toronto.

Spanning more than 500 miles, this initiative treats this heavily traveled route as a single, continuous enforcement corridor where police agencies will be increasing enforcement and working together to deliver a consistent traffic safety message, which is to avoid distracted driving.

“This effort represents the first joint international distracted driving enforcement operation in North America,” stated Col. James F. Grady II, director of the MSP.

“By coordinating enforcement efforts across state and provincial boundaries, participating agencies, including over 50 MSP troopers and motor carrier officers from the First, Second, Third and Fifth districts, aim to promote safer driving behaviors and reduce traffic crashes along one of the busiest transportation corridors in the Great Lakes region.”