How Michigan State Police deploy ghosts to curb distracted driving

Despite Michigan’s hands-free driving law being in place for more than a year now, police are still seeing drivers holding their phones or other devices in vehicles. The practice is especially troublesome where road work is going on.

On this week’s edition of the Talking Michigan Transportation podcast, conversations with a construction engineer facing the challenge of working with contractors to rebuild roads in a timely manner while maintaining mobility for the public. 

First, Tanya Pawlukiewicz, MDOT’s Grand Region construction engineer, talks about a number of crashes that have occurred in a work zone on a major project on I-96 in Ionia County. 

Later, Michigan State Police Sgt. Bradley Campbell talks about what he and his colleagues are seeing and hearing along the I-96 corridor and the effectiveness of Operation Ghost Rider.

One conclusion: Despite aggressive public awareness campaigns, expansive media coverage and other efforts, many people don’t know about the hands-free law. On a recent day, Campbell says four of nine drivers stopped for using their phones told troopers they were ignorant of the law.