Memorial Day Weekend Travelers: Police Encourage Drivers to Practice Caution

Holiday weekend travel is underway, as people make their way up north, and it is busy!

It’s also the first holiday weekend where speed limits have increased on many highways and freeways in Northern Michigan.

9&10’s Taylor Jones is following this for us from 115 in Cadillac and takes a look at what you can expect.

Traffic is pretty heavy at times as people head north, and you can see here on 115, it’s car after car.

And with newly increased speed limits on hundreds of miles of Michigan highways and freeways, police are cracking down.

“The concern is people are going to think that they can push it to 85 or even more than that and with the new speed limit being 75, we’re not going to tolerate as much as the excessive,” Tropper Pat Pennoni said.

But as Pennoni explains, that’s not all police will be looking out for this holiday weekend. 

“We will be looking out for excessive speed, intoxicated driving, seatbelt use, distracted driving, people need to put their phones down and pay attention to what they are doing so they can arrive to their destination safely,” he said.

In light of the increasing number of crashes involving distracted driving, teen drivers are another focus.

“Teen drivers don’t have the experience needed to make sure they are paying attention the phones, is a big thing people being on their phones and texting and driving taking pictures while they are driving that stuff. They have got to learn to put that down

As for travelers, those faster speed limits seem to be the hit of the weekend.

“I think it’s much safer because people were passing people all the time so now people can go the extra speed that they want to go, I think it’s a good thing,” Kerry Weishaupt said.

She stresses caution is key.

“For the most part of people just travelled the right speed and do what they are supposed to be doing and getting to the places they want to go they are going to have fun,” Weishaupt said.

Extra police patrols will be on the roads this weekend and ask that everyone drives safely.