Two Killed In I-275 Wrong Way Crash

CANTON, MI — A female driver and male passenger were killed on northbound I-275 near Palmer Road in Canton Tuesday morning when a wrong-way driver slammed into them head-on, according to Michigan State Police Lt. Mike Shaw.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene, he said. A 59-year-old man from Wolverine Lake drove the vehicle that hit the man and woman, Shaw said.

“We found an open container of alcohol in his vehicle,” Shaw said.

He was transported to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Shaw said it’s too early into the investigation of the crash to say what charges, if any, the Wolverine Lake man will face.

The crash closed the freeway for a time and drivers are now getting by on the shoulder of the road, according to the Michigan Department of Transportation. Calls came in from drivers about the Wolverine man driving the wrong way at about 10:36 a.m., Shaw said.

He was near Ford Road when the first call came in. Palmer Road is a few miles south. Shaw said it’s unclear where the 59-year-old first got on the freeway or how fast either vehicle was going at the time of the collision.

“Wrong-driver crashes are always the most horrific because both are usually traveling at highway speeds,” he added.

Autopsies will be performed on the man and woman at the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office to determine if drugs or alcohol were involved on their part, Shaw said.

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