An 83-year-old man was killed Wednesday after he ran a stop sign in Calhoun County and his pickup truck was struck by a semi-truck, police said.
The crash occurred at the intersection of M-66 and K Drive South in Leroy Township, Michigan State Police Sgt. James Campbell said.
Campbell said the driver of the pickup truck, a Leroy Township man whose name has not been released, was driving east on K Drive South and pulling a small fishing boat when he failed to stop for a stop sign at the intersection of M-66 and drove into the path of a northbound semi-truck.
Campbell, a MSP crash reconstructionist, said police found no evidence that the man attempted to apply his brakes before he ran the stop sign and police are investigating to see if a medical issue may have played a role in the crash.
Campbell said speed was not a factor in the crash. The driver of the semi-truck was not hurt in the crash, the sergeant said.
Elderly drivers cause many accidents. We need to force
drivers to take driving refresher courses every 5 years or more often.
Drivers must also be tested for eye-sight, hearing, drugs, etc. Many thousands
of deaths and hundreds of thousands of injuries would be prevented if we do
so. Please remember that a vehicle is a lethal weapon and only a
regularly-trained, capable and fit person should operate it.