MSP reminding drivers to 'slow down and move over' after two patrol cars hit Wednesday on Metro Detroit freeways

(WWJ) — Michigan State Police officials are reminding drivers to slow down and move over when they see troopers with their lights on after a pair of patrol cars were hit in separate incidents on Wednesday.

MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw said both incidents, which happened within hours of each other,  were “preventable” and both were caused by distracted drivers.

Around 9 a.m. a trooper from the Metro South Post had just arrived to assist another trooper handle a crash on eastbound I-94 near Martin Road — between I-696 and 12 Mile Road — when their car was hit.

As the trooper was starting to get out of her patrol car, officials say a 61-year-old driver from Eastpointe was unable to stop their Ford F-150 in time and sideswiped the patrol car, narrowly missing the trooper.

The patrol vehicle sustained minor damage to the driver’s side and driver’s door.

There were no signs of impairment on the part of the driver, who was cited and released.

About four hours later, a trooper from the Metro North Post had his emergency lights activated as he was stopping to remove debris from the freeway along EB I-696 near Manistee Street in Oak Park.

Just before coming to a stop, a 33-year-old Detroit man driving a pickup truck rear-ended the patrol car, according to MSP.

The trooper was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. He has since been released. The at-fault driver was not injured. He was also cited and released.

“We want to remind drivers that when they see a patrol car with its lights on, please slow down and move over a lane.” Shaw said in a post on X . “Having two patrol cars hit within hours by distracted drivers is concerning. Fortunately, no one was hurt in these preventable crashes.”

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