An analysis released this week by SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, shows that fatal traffic crashes in the seven-county region (Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne) have increased for the fifth consecutive year.

There were 387 traffic fatalities occurring in 2015, up from 311 in 2010. The number of total crashes – 138,710 – has also increased for the third year in a row, resulting in 1,913 severe injuries to road users in Southeast Michigan.

According additional publicly available SEMCOG statistics, sourced using data from the Michigan State Police, Criminal Justice Information Center (CJIC), the intersection with the most traffic crashes on average since 2010 is Ford Road at Haggerty Road in the Detroit suburb of Canton, by the IKEA, just west of I-275.

“To stem the needless loss of life in our region, we must take a broad approach to improving the safety of our transportation system and to making small but potentially life-saving changes to our personal behavior,” said Kathleen Lomako, Executive Director of SEMCOG.

Additional information from the analysis:

  • Alcohol-involved traffic fatalities increased by more than 22 percent from 2014, as the 115 alcohol-involved fatalities represented nearly 30 percent of all fatalities in the region.
  • The 78 drug-involved fatalities which occurred in 2015 represent a 47 percent increase over the prior year and more than 20 percent of the region’s fatalities.
  • Significant increases were also observed with respect to the 63 motorcyclist-related (34 percent) and 15 bicyclist (25 percent) fatalities as compared to 2014.
  • Traffic crashes involving pedestrians (1,308) also increased in 2015, including a 14 percent increase in fatalities.

“While pedestrians are involved in only one percent of accidents, pedestrian crashes account for 28 percent of all traffic fatalities in Southeast Michigan. Nationwide, that number is 14 percent,” said Lomako in a statement. “I encourage all travelers this Memorial Day weekend to follow safe driving practices; use a designated driver when drinking; and be on the lookout for motorcycles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.”

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