TRAVERSE CITY — “Horrible things can happen when road signs are damaged, and it does appear that this is being done intentionally,” said Michigan State Police Sgt. Ashley Miller.
Missing stop signs are raising serious safety concerns after a deadly crash earlier this month in Grand Traverse County.
Law enforcement in Grand Traverse and Wexford Counties said at least eleven stop signs have been reported missing or damaged.
Police are urging drivers to be extra careful and to call 911 if they see a sign down.
Stop signs are needed for safe roads, but right now seven in Wexford County and three in Grand Traverse County have come up damaged, missing or stolen.
Miller said the removal of these stops may have already had dire consequences.
“A September 12th crash at Miller Road and County Road 633 may have been caused by a missing stop sign.”
The crash resulted in two deaths; oddly enough, the stop sign was there just hours earlier.
“An eyewitness reported the sign was in place just hours before the collision,” said Miller.
Since then, investigators have discovered multiple damaged or missing signs in the area.
Here’s what law enforcement wants you to do to remain safe with stop signs coming up missing.
“Even if you do have the right of way, just take a second to slow down and look both ways just to ensure there’s no other traffic coming,” said Miller. “And if there is a stop sign down in that area, make sure you’re stopping completely to make sure that the oncoming traffic is clear to go.”
Grand Traverse County Road Commission Manager Dan Watkins said they have a plan in place when signs are damaged or uprooted.
“So, as soon as we hear from central dispatch that there is a down sign, we’ll get out there immediately with the temporary sign to replace it. We’ll figure out how we need to get the sign replaced permanently, and we’ll try to do that as quickly as possible.”
Currently, the mysteriously damaged stop signs are under investigation, but SGT. Miller said in some communities in can be hard to find out who’s to blame.
“With no surveillance in the rural area,s we rely on home cameras.”
If you have any information about these stop signs, the Road Commission wants you to act fast.
“We’re asking if anybody sees a missing stop sign to please contact law enforcement and to let them know you know the location of that down stop sign. They’ll get ahold of us, and we’ll get a temporary sign back up,” said Watkins.