A 76-year-old Jackson man has died after police say he ran a stop sign and collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Cooper and E. Franklin streets Monday. Brian McGonegal was driving a Dodge Caravan east on E. Franklin Street when he failed to stop, putting him in the path of a GMC Sierra pickup heading south on Cooper Street. He was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries and later died.
Jackson Police Chief Chris Simpson said rescue crews arrived to find two vehicles crashed in the roadway, according to MLive.com. McGonegal was taken to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The hospital is designated as a Level II Trauma Center within a 40-mile radius of south-central Michigan, according to Henry Ford Health.
The pickup's driver, a 55-year-old man, suffered injuries described as non-life-threatening. He was taken to the hospital, treated, and released, per the police chief's account. The crash remains under investigation.
A Familiar Name in Jackson
McGonegal was no stranger to local headlines. Back in June 2017, he made national news when he tried to pay a $270 municipal yard-trash fine to Jackson City Hall using 27,000 loose, unrolled pennies, a protest that drew coverage from national wire services after the city treasurer refused to accept the unrolled coins, as reported by Fox News at the time.
The intersection where Monday's crash happened sits along a busy corridor. Cooper Street forms part of State Route M-50 and the I-94 Business Loop, according to JTV. That designation means the road regularly carries heavy commercial and commuter traffic, a factor that can raise the stakes of any failure to yield at a cross street.
What the Law Says About Failure to Yield
Under Michigan Compiled Laws Section 257.649, drivers approaching a stop sign must come to a complete stop and yield to any vehicle already in the intersection or close enough to pose an immediate hazard, with a violation classified as a two-point civil infraction, per Garmo & Kiste PLC. Michigan Traffic Crash Facts includes driver-contributing factors in its statewide crash data.
Side-impact broadside collisions like this one carry particularly severe fatality risk. Passenger vehicles lack the extensive front and rear crumple-zone metal engineered into the front of a car, meaning doors provide far less buffering during a high-velocity impact, according to Koussan Law.
Countywide Crash Trends
The Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Traffic Crash Reconstruction Team responded to assist Jackson police at the scene. The department's materials also discuss Blackman Township and its public-safety operations.
Monday's fatal wreck adds to the broader traffic-safety picture in Jackson County.
Chief Simpson, who released details on the investigation, is Jackson's police chief, according to JTV. The investigation into Monday's crash remains open as the reconstruction team continues its work.
