(Chelsea Update would like to thank Sue Stetler for the information in this story.)
SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments recently released a Quick Facts report summarizing traffic crashes in Southeast Michigan for 2018.
The report analyzes traffic crash data in Southeast Michigan for 2018 and shows 10-year trends (2009-2018) for total crashes, fatalities, and serious injuries as well as several factors – pedestrians, bicycles, lane departures, drugs, alcohol, older drivers, and younger drivers. The number of traffic crashes, fatalities, and injuries in Southeast Michigan all decreased from 2017 to 2018.
“With warmer weather providing more opportunities for people to be mobile and enjoy the outdoors, pedestrian, bike, and vehicle traffic is expected to increase. Regardless of how people are traveling, safety should remain a top priority,” notes Kathleen Lomako, Executive Director of SEMCOG.
SEMCOG uses crash data from the Michigan State Police, Criminal Justice Information Center. Key findings from Southeast Michigan Traffic Crash Data:
Traffic crashes and injuries decreasing
- The number of traffic crashes in Southeast Michigan continued to decrease in 2018 from 2016. There were 144,104 total crashes, down one percent from 2017, but still up 18 percent from 2009.
- Traffic fatalities decreased for a second year, down three percent from 369 in 2017 to 356 in 2018.
- Serious injuries decreased seven percent to 2,069 in 2018. This is a 20 percent decrease from 2009.
Pedestrian crashes continue to rise
- Crashes involving pedestrians increased for a second year, up seven percent to 1,308.
- Pedestrian fatalities decreased for a third year, down two percent from 2017 but still up 19 percent from 2009.
- In 2018, pedestrian crashes accounted for one percent of all crashes, yet 23 percent of the fatalities were a pedestrian. Nationally, 16 percent of all traffic fatalities are pedestrians.
Bicycle crashes and serious injuries down to 10-year low
- Crashes involving bicycles decreased to 814, down 11 percent from 2017 and 16 percent from 2009.
- Bicyclist fatalities nearly doubled, up from 5 in 2017 to 9 in 2018.
- Bicyclist serious injuries dropped 42 percent, the largest decrease of any key emphasis area.
SEMCOG’s interactive crash location map, as well as all other crash resources have been updated to include 2018 data.
