Head-on, wrong way crash on I-696 kills two drivers

A wrong-way crash on Interstate 696 near Greenfield Road in Southfield resulted in the deaths of two drivers early Saturday morning, Michigan State Police said in a tweet.

Police responded to the crash on westbound I-696 at 4:30 a.m. Two vehicles had collided head-on in the center-right lane and both drivers were killed instantly, police said. The drivers were the only occupants of the vehicles.

A preliminary investigation into the crash revealed that a 2022 Ford F-150 was traveling west on I-696 in the center-right land while a 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling east in the same lane. No witnesses reported a wrong-way driver prior to the crash, MSP said.

Police had not identified either driver as of 8 a.m. Saturday.

“We are trying to determine why the driver of the Jeep was driving the wrong way,” MSP 1st Lt. Mike Shaw said in a tweet. “We will need to wait for autopsy results to see if impairment is a factor... But again, this is another example of poor driving behavior leading to the loss of lives”.

hmackay@detroitnews.com