Joel Kinsey, a 2016 Tri County graduate, was killed in a traffic crash on 14 Mile Rd on Jan. 4.

Several people were injured and one person died in a crash on 14 Mile Rd, in Oakfield Township, last week Thursday.

According to the Michigan State Police, the crash occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday, January 4, west of Wabasis Ave. The investigation showed that an eastbound vehicle driven by Joseph Hanna, 39, of Sparta, tried to pass a vehicle driven by Jerry Kinsey, 48, of Sand Lake, and the two vehicles collided. The collision resulted in both vehicles losing control and Kinsey’s vehicle spinning into the westbound lane, where it was struck by a van driven by Gail Gansmiller, 48, of Sheridan. The passenger in Kinsey’s vehicle, his 20-year-old son, Joel Kinsey, of Sand Lake, was killed, and Jerry Kinsey was transported to Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids in critical condition.  

Hanna and Gansmiller were treated for minor injuries. 

Police said that speed and alcohol were not believed to be factors in the crash.  

Assisting at the scene was Oakfield Township Fire, Courtland Township Fire, the Kent County Sheriff Department, and Rockford Ambulance.

Joel Kinsey was a 2016 graduate of Tri-County High School and was presently serving as a LCpl in the U.S. Marines. He is the son of Jerry Kinsey and Nicole (Fernando Bernal) Kinsey.

Click here to see his obituary.

A new traffic light at 14 Mile and Myers Lake will soon be operational. Photo from Courtland Township Fire Department Facebook page.

We reported back in February that the Michigan Department of Transportation would be installing a new traffic light at M-57 (14 Mile) and Myers Lake Avenue, and it has finally been installed.

 “The traffic signal study showed significant delays on Myers Lake Rd, high enough traffic volumes, and a lack of gaps in the M-57 traffic stream,” explained John Richard, with MDOT, as to why the light was needed.

That’s music to the ears of people traveling Myers Lake Avenue that have a hard time crossing M-57. 

The traffic light should be operational soon.

A Sparta man died early Wednesday morning after rolling his vehicle on M-57 in Courtland Township.

According to the Michigan State Police Rockford Post, the crash occurred on M-57 (14 Mile Rd) shortly after 6 a.m., November 1. The investigation showed that a 2004 Chevrolet Impala, driven by Vincent John Cooper, 20, of Sparta, was travelling eastbound on M-57 near Berrigan Ave. and attempted to overtake a semi-truck, also eastbound on M-57. The Impala drove off onto the left shoulder of the roadway, lost control, then spun back across the roadway before striking a curb on the right shoulder of the roadway, going into the ditch, and rolling multiple times.  

Cooper was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene. Police said he was not wearing his seatbelt and speed is believed to be a factor in the crash. 

The Michigan State Police were assisted at the scene by the Courtland Twp. Fire Department, Rockford Ambulance, and Kent County Road Commission.

A woman died when she turned into the path of an oncoming semi in Courtland Township Tuesday. Photo from WOOD-TV 8.

A 77-year-old Grand Rapids woman died Tuesday, October 24, when her vehicle collided with a semi tractor in Courtland Township.

According to the Michigan State Police Rockford Post, the woman was traveling westbound on M-57 about 12:25 p.m. in a 2012 Chevrolet Traverse, when she attempted to turn south on to Northland Drive and into the path of a Freightliner semi tractor traveling eastbound on M-57. The woman died at the scene as a result of injuries she sustained in the crash. Her name has not yet been released.

The driver of the semi, a 59-year-old Greenville man, was not injured.

Police said that neither speed nor alcohol appeared to be factors in the crash.

The Courtland Township Fire Department, Kent County Sheriff Department, and Rockford Ambulance assisted at the scene. 

Photo by Keith Coalter.

The driver who crashed into this home on 14 Mile Road Monday may have suffered a medical emergency. Photo courtesy of the Rockford Squire.

A resident in the home located on the southwest corner of Myers Lake Road and 14 Mile Road (M-57) heard two crashing sounds before a final one shook the house. She found that a Jeep Patriot had left the road, gone down and up a hilled area, taken out a road sign, and narrowly missed a large pear tree before striking her home, at 7156 14 Mile Road, just before 12:23 p.m. on Monday, October 20.

According to the Kent County Sheriff Department, the driver may have suffered a medical emergency. They reported that a witness said that the driver, identified as Bruce Wayne Beck, 69, of Gowen, was slumped over the wheel as he entered the intersection, and never tapped his brakes or made any attempt to slow down before hitting the home.

First responders to the scene worked on the driver, the sole inhabitant of the vehicle, for nearly an hour before transporting him to a downtown Grand Rapids hospital with a life-threatening medical condition. After removing the driver from the vehicle, they performed chest compressions in attempts to stabilize him before transportation via Rockford Ambulance.

Responding to the scene was Courtland Fire and Rescue, the Kent County Sheriff Department and Rockford Ambulance.

The resident of the home said she didn’t immediately realize what had happened, but noted that there are numerous accidents at the intersection. No one in the home was injured.

UPDATE June 13: The driver of the westbound Chevy Malibu, Coleen Mary Stoudt, 59, of Carson City, died of her injuries, on Wednesday, June 12.

ORIGINAL:

A pickup truck rear-ended another vehicle on M-57, in Oakfield Township, Tuesday afternoon causing an accident that included four cars and sent four people to the hospital.

The accident occurred about 4:30 p.m. on M-57, just east of Podunk. Several cars were reportedly stopped behind a car in the eastbound lane that was waiting to turn left into a daycare, when a maroon Ford F-250 slammed into the rear-end of a white Chevy Silverado that was stopped. The impact sent the Silverado into the Buick Century in front of it, and then into the westbound lane, where it hit a Chevy Malibu head on and down the driver’s side.

According to a witness, Oakfield Fire and Rescue had to remove the door to get the female driver out, who was sent to the hospital with severe injuries. She was unresponsive when pulled from the car.

At least three other victims were also sent to the hospital. No information was available at press time on the identities of the victims or the extent of their injuries.