Although it’s still early in the year, automobile crashes in Addison Township have almost doubled compared to last year’s numbers.
According to Sgt. Pete Burkett, commander for the Oakland County Sheriff’s Addison sub-station, the number of traffic crashes in Addison Twp. in April of this year was 113 compared to 67 in April of last year.
‘People just aren’t paying attention,? he said, noting that dialing cell phones, tuning the radio, disciplining children and even eating while driving can be just as dangerous as driving while drunk.
Although there hasn’t been a fatality related to a traffic crash in the township for two years, Burkett said some of them have come really close.
Recently, Burkett said a woman was driving down Rochester Rd. with her two children in the backseat. Not paying attention, the woman swerved into the opposite lane and side-swiped an elderly woman’s vehicle. Luckily, there were no injuries.
In another incident, a sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle on Lakeville Rd. because it was weaving in and out of the lane.
It was determined the female passenger was distracting her boyfriend while he was driving.
‘If something that you’re doing is interfering with your driving you can be cited for that ? no matter what it is,? Burkett said.
Of all the incidents involving traffic crashes, Burkett said the intersection of Rochester Rd. and Romeo Rd. is the worst.
The sergeant urges all drivers to use better caution and to slow down while driving to help reduce the amount of traffic crashes.