The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office is launching “Operation Ghost Rider” to target distracted driving along the M-59 corridor. The enforcement effort is scheduled for October 21 and October 28 and will use both marked and unmarked vehicles. Officers in unmarked vehicles will observe distracted drivers, and marked units will then conduct the traffic stops, as per Audacy.
Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard warned about the risks of distracted driving, comparing it to drunk driving. “As a former accident investigator and a fatal traffic investigator, distracted driving is the cause for very many dangerous crashes and fatal crashes,” he told WXYZ. The Sheriff’s Office began a campaign in 2017 to reduce distracted driving. Michigan law bans manually using a phone while driving, including typing GPS directions or posting on social media. Audacy reports that texting drivers are 23 times more likely to crash. A local driver, Samir Mazahem, said, “Actually today, as I was coming home on 1-75, a driver, who was holding his phone right in his hand, almost rear-ended me,” describing a recent close call.
State data show that while overall crashes tied to cell phone use declined from 2023 to 2024, fatal incidents increased. In 2024, 18 fatal crashes involved cell phone use, compared with 11 the year before. According to numbers cited by FOX 2 Detroit, 21 people died in 2024 in crashes linked to phone distraction, up from 11 fatalities in 2023. Sheriff Michael Bouchard said deputies will be increasing enforcement, noting the higher risk during peak deer activity. “So, just do the smart thing: put your phone down or put it in a hands-free mode and focus on the road,” Bouchard said in a statement to WXYZ.
