SOUTHFILED (WWJ) - Authorities in Oakland County have kicked off a crackdown with the goal to reduce the number of crashes along Southfield Road.
A three-month pilot project they're calling the "Southfield Road Safety & Speed Enforcement Program" is underway this week in Southfield, Lathrup Village and Beverly Hills, with the shared goal to reduce speeding and speed-related crashes.
The project, which covers the five-mile stretch of Southfield Rd. – between 9 Mile and 14 Mile roads, will run through the end of March 2020.
Why announce it? Community leaders say letting drivers known about it will only help them toward their goal to make travel on Southfield Road safer, more efficient and less congested.
“The main focus of this program is to improve safety. The probability of severe injury increases with the impact speed of the colliding vehicle. Also, crashes congest the roadways and result in economic losses," said Police Chief Elvin Barren from the City of Southfield, in a statement.
Beverly Hills Village President Lee Peddie agreed the enforcement campaign makes sense.
"The costs of crashes include lost productivity, medical costs, legal and court costs, emergency service costs, insurance administration costs, travel delay, property damage, and workplace losses," she said.
Why now? Lathrup Village Police Chief Scott McKeet said data from 2018 and 2019 shows that there is an increase in incidents between October and March, so his seemed like a good time to kick off the project. He notes the speed limit between Lincoln ( 10 1/2 Mile) and 12 Mile Rd. is 45 mph.
Police say an estimated 40,000 vehicles travel along Southfield Road daily.