A 28-year-old Ypsilanti woman is sitting in Monroe County Jail after police say she drove the wrong way on U.S. 23 near Dundee early Sunday, nearly slamming head-on into a pickup truck before officers managed to pull her over. The case has now been sent to the Monroe County Prosecutor's Office for review.
According to CBS News, Monroe County Central Dispatch began fielding multiple 911 calls around 4:38 a.m. Sunday about a white Ford Explorer traveling southbound in the northbound lanes of U.S. 23 near mile marker 21. A Dundee officer who had just entered the highway from Exit 17/Dundee reportedly watched the SUV nearly strike a pickup truck head-on, then positioned a patrol vehicle to warn oncoming traffic with its lights while the wrong-way driver kept going.
The Dundee Police Department responded alongside Michigan State Police and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, with troopers and deputies arriving to assist, the outlet's report states. Officers eventually stopped the vehicle, and the driver was taken into custody and transported to Monroe County Jail without further incident.
Driver Reportedly Thought She Was Near Inkster
Per the report, the Dundee Police Department said the woman told officers she had left a bar in Detroit and believed she was somewhere in the Inkster area when she was pulled over — nowhere close to the stretch of highway near Dundee where she was actually driving. Dundee police reported breath-test readings of .14 and .15, the outlet notes, well above the .08 blood alcohol limit set under Michigan law for adult drivers.
The Dundee Police Department's account, as relayed in the same report, attributes the .14 reading and the driver's statement about believing she was in Inkster directly to investigators on scene. The case now moves to prosecutors for a charging decision.
Not the First Wrong-Way Scare on This Stretch
This is not the first time wrong-way driving has turned dangerous on U.S. 23 near Dundee. A separate incident reported by Monroe News described a wrong-way driver on the same highway who struck four other vehicles near Willis Road, sending four people, including the wrong-way driver, to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police suspected alcohol or drugs were a factor in that crash, and southbound U.S. 23 was shut down for two to three hours during the investigation and cleanup.
Statewide, alcohol-related driving dangers have shown some improvement. Michigan State Police reported that alcohol-involved traffic fatalities dropped 14 percent, from 307 to 264, between 2024 and 2025.
No additional details on charges against the Ypsilanti woman had been released as of Sunday's report.
