Wednesday, January 7, 2015

SLICK ROADS BRING CRASHES IN OTTAWA COUNTY, MICHIGAN



SLICK ROADS BRING CRASHES IN OTTAWA COUNTY, MICHIGAN





(FULL STORY) Slippery roads contributed to a couple of crashes in the area Tuesday afternoon that resulted in four people being injured.
Becky Vargo
Northwest Ottawa County
Jan 7, 2015

Sgt. Steve Austin said these were just two of several car crashes and slide-offs handled by the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Department after heavy snow fell Monday night.
Two people were trapped inside their car for a short time after a broadside crash early Tuesday afternoon on Leonard Road in Polkton Township, east of 88th Avenue. Coopersville-Polkton firefighters extricated the seriously injured occupants of the car about 25 minutes after being summoned to the 12:13 p.m. crash.
Spring Lake resident Mike Stone, 37, said he was driving his Jeep Commander east on Leonard Road when a car attempted to pass a mail truck in the westbound lane. The female driver of the car tried to make a correction, but Stone's Jeep hit the car broadside, he said.
“I was at the top of the rise by the old schoolhouse,” Stone said. “There was this mail truck westbound, and out from behind was their vehicle. They were trying to pass.”
Ambulances transported the driver of the car, 30-year-old April McKenney of Allendale, and her passenger, 29-year-old Eric Cody of Battle Creek, to Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, police said. 
Stone, who was walking around after the crash, said he was not injured.
McKenney was ticketed for improper passing and driving with a suspended license, said Sgt. Kevin Allman of the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department.
Witnesses said McKenney passed two slower-moving cars before coming into the path of Stone’s vehicle, Allman said. Stone could not avoid the crash.
“Obviously, being on a bridge, there was nowhere to go,” Stone said.
Leonard Road between 88th and 84th avenues was closed to traffic for more than an hour after the crash.
Several inches of snow had fallen overnight and continued to fall Tuesday while emergency crews worked the crash scene. The roads were snow-covered and slippery at the time.
Crockery Township firefighters assisted at the scene.
A little more than two hours later, emergency crews responded to a semi-truck versus SUV crash in Grand Haven Township. Two teenagers suffered minor injuries in the crash on U.S. 31 at Hayes Street at about 3:30 p.m.
Ottawa County Sheriff's deputies said a Chevrolet Suburban driven by an 18-year-old Grand Haven-area teen was northbound on U.S. 31 when it pulled into the turnaround to go south on the highway, spun its tires in the snow and ended up in front of a semi-truck.
The driver of the semi said he saw the Suburban’s spinning tires and realized the SUV wasn't getting enough traction. The truck driver said he was unable to slow down in time to avoid hitting the vehicle that pulled out in front of him. The truck driver also couldn't veer right because of a stalled semi, or left because of cars in the other lanes.
Police said the driver of the SUV was not injured. Two of his passengers — boys ages 14 and 17 — suffered minor injuries.
The winter-weather blast led to many other crashes and injuries in West Michigan on Tuesday.
In Kent County’s Byron Township, a 72-year-old man was seriously injured when he apparently slipped on an icy road and was hit by an SUV.
Police said Joseph Hagen of Caledonia had dropped his vehicle off for repairs at a shop on South Division Avenue, just north of 68th Street, at about 8 a.m. As he was walking across the street to go to a restaurant, he either slipped on the icy roadway or tripped and fell into the path of an SUV driven by a 30-year-old Wyoming resident. The driver was unable to avoid striking Hagen, the Kent County Sheriff’s Department said.
Hagen was taken to the hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Snowfall totals from Monday night through Tuesday morning in Ottawa County ranged from a little more than 2 to up to 10 inches. A National Weather Service official observer measured the snowfall in Norton Shores for that time period at 9.6 feet.