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Sheriff: Woman drove drunk wrong way on I-96

Posted at 10:44 PM, Oct 01, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-01 22:44:40-04

A 23-year-old St. Clair Shores woman is facing drunk driving charges after she was seen speeding the wrong way on I-96 through parts of Oakland County last Saturday.

Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard says other drivers called 911 to alert police about the driver, who was going eastbound in the westbound lanes of the highway around 2:30 a.m.

“You know if you’re going 70 miles an hour in one direction and someone’s coming at you at 70, you got a closing speed of 140. Not a lot of reaction time,” Bouchard said.

Dashcam video shows the tail lights of the Chevy Cruz as sheriff’s deputies drive on the right side of the road, trying to alert the driver and oncoming traffic with spotlights.

It took about two miles for the driver to take notice and slow to a stop near Meadowbrook Road in Novi.

When deputies jumped the median wall and approached, the 23-year-old woman told them she was driving back home to St. Clair Shores from Pontiac.

“She did a sobriety test and failed some key portions and almost fell when she got out of the car,” Bouchard said.

She was taken to the Oakland County jail where a breath test showed her blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

Sheriff Bouchard said she was extremely lucky neither she nor any other driver was hurt.

“Don’t mix driving with alcohol,” he said. “And certainly in this situation, extreme alcohol in the wrong direction on the freeway could have been fatal,” he added.

The woman was released on bond the following day. The case was forwarded to the prosecutor’s office.