By Matthew Hutchison / news@whmi.com

The Michigan State Police, along with the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office and other local and county police agencies across the state, will carry out focused speed-enforcement patrols in July as part of a statewide traffic safety campaign to get drivers to tap the brakes.

“Speeding is one of the most preventable causes of deadly crashes,” Alicia Sledge, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, said in a press release. “Exceeding the speed limit reduces reaction time, increases impact forces and raises the risk to all road users. Slowing down is one of the simplest and most effective ways to save lives.”

Sledge, who chairs the Governor’s Traffic Safety Advisory Commission, says the July enforcement campaign is part of Michigan’s SAFER by 2030 initiative, which launched in December 2025. The statewide effort brings together agencies and traffic safety partners around a shared goal of reducing roadway fatalities by 30% by 2030.

The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning says speeding remains a leading and persistent contributor to deadly crashes. Officials say drivers who exceed safe speeds reduce their reaction time, increase the force of crashes and raise the risk for passengers, other motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists and all roadway users.

According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, Michigan recorded 22,260 speed-involved crashes in 2024, a 4.2% increase from 21,357 crashes in 2023.

While speed-involved crashes increased, speed-related fatalities declined from 210 in 2023 to 177 in 2024, a decrease of 15.7%.

Single-vehicle crashes were the most common type of speed-involved crash in 2024, accounting for 71% of the total, or 15,809 crashes.

State officials say the message is simple: slow down before a summer drive turns deadly.

The July speed-enforcement campaign is supported with federal traffic safety funds provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and administered by the OHSP.

More information is available through the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.