Across the country, aggressive protesters and criminal actors are increasingly using vehicles as tools of opposition and force – fast, heavy, and often lethal. A two-ton object at speed is no longer just transportation. Instead, in their hands, it becomes a weapon guided by a steering wheel.

Michigan’s roads are proving the point.

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Michigan has seen this play out up close. Just this week in Ypsilanti, a man was killed after trying to ram police vehicles during a chase – using his car not to escape, but to attack. According to the Detroit News, the man died after leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase that began just before 2 a.m. when deputies spotted his van without headlights or license plates and attempted a traffic stop. The driver fled, drove the wrong way and, at one point, tried to ram police vehicles before crashing. In the chaotic moments that followed, the suspect was reported to be armed with a shotgun and officers returned fire.

In Plainfield Township, a Calhoun County deputy was struck by a vehicle in October of last year during an arrest attempt. What started out as a routine welfare check at a Taco Bell turned violent when a 47- year-old man with an active felony warrant resisted arrest and struck a Calhoun County Sheriff’s deputy with his vehicle as deputies tried to take him into custody. The suspect was later arrested and taken to the Calhoun County Jail on multiple felony charges. The injured deputy was treated at a local hospital and released with non-life-threatening injuries.

The takeaway? Different counties, same tactic: drive at the badge to escape accountability.

When law enforcement responses and emergency scenes become deadly.

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data, from 2014-2023motor-vehicle incidents account for roughly 29% of all line-of-duty deaths nationwide. That includes crashes – but also officers deliberately struck while outside their patrol cars.

It’s not just officers getting killed either. It can also happen to EMS workers and firefighters who are out protecting people. Michigan fire chief David Haverdink, 74, of the Hamilton Fire Department in Allegan County, died in December of last year after suffering injuries while responding to a medical emergency in the line of duty. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died two days later on Christmas Day.

Calling it what it is.

When a suspect ignores law enforcement commands, points a vehicle at an officer and moves forward, that is not “flight,” it’s intentional assault according to Michigan law. Pretending otherwise doesn’t make anyone safer – except the next criminal looking for a weapon that doesn’t require a background check.