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From Sue Stetler, SEMCOG Communications Director • e-mail • 313-961-4266

Southeast Michigan traffic crashes in 2006 continue downward trend, according to new report released by SEMCOG

Southeast Michigan experienced more than 19,000 fewer traffic crashes in 2006 than in 2005, and nearly 27,000 fewer than in 2004, according to Southeast Michigan Traffic Crash Facts 2006, a report recently released by SEMCOG, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments.

The main objective of this report is to provide useful data to aid local communities in their efforts to improve traffic safety. Sections at the end of the report contain data about safety-belt use and holiday traffic crashes.

In 2006, there were a total of 138,165 crashes (resulting in 39,840 injuries and 391 fatalities) in Southeast Michigan, down from 157,284 crashes in 2005 and 164,900 in 2004. The seven-county regional totals represent 44 percent of the total crashes in the State of Michigan. The state total was 315,322 for 2006, down from 2005's total of 350,838.

The report contains important statistical information about all traffic crashes reported in Southeast Michigan in 2006, and also focuses on injury traffic crashes, fatal traffic crashes, alcohol-involved traffic crashes, vehicle-deer crashes, young-driver traffic crashes, elderly driver traffic crashes, and truck/bus traffic crashes. Highlights include:

• The number of reported fatal crashes per 100 million miles traveledcontinued to dip below one in Southeast Michigan to 0.73 crashes per 100 million miles traveled. This is a decrease from the 2005 rate of 0.74 fatal crashes for every 100 million miles of travel.
• Over 87 percent of belted drivers escaped injury altogether when involved in a crash; only 60 percent of non-belted drivers suffered no injuries at all. Drivers in the 16-24 and 25-34 age groups were least likely to use restraints; more than twice as many males as females were not wearing their safety belts at the time of a crash.
• Compared with 2005, traffic crashes decreased over 10 percent, injuries decreased 8.8 percent, and the number of fatalities remained the same.
• Crashes involving alcohol totalled 5,079 in 2006. In Southeast Michigan, 3.7 percent of all traffic crashes involved alcohol, but nearly 31 percent of fatal traffic crashes involved alcohol consumption.
• There were 362 fatal traffic crashes (resulting in 391 fatalities) in Southeast Michigan in 2006.
• Young drivers (16-24) were involved in over 35 percent of all traffic crashes in 2006.
• Crashes involving elderly drivers (those age 65 and older) in Southeast Michigan have decreased every year since 1996. In 2006, there were 16,597 crashes involving elderly drivers — 12 percent of all crashes involved an elderly driver.

The complete report, Southeast Michigan Traffic Crash Facts 2006, is available from SEMCOG Information Center, (313) 961-4266, or can be downloaded in PDF from SEMCOG's Web site — www.semcog.org.

Traffic crash data used in the report were received from the Michigan Department of State Police, Criminal Justice Information Center (CJIC). These data are combined with crash data from previous years to illustrate trends and provide a more complete picture of traffic crashes in Southeast Michigan.

SEMCOG is a regional planning partnership of governmental units serving 4.9 million people in the seven-county region of Southeast Michigan striving to enhance the region's quality of life.

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Southeast Michigan Council of Governments
535 Griswold Street, Suite 300 Detroit, MI 48226-3602
313-961-4266 - Fax 313-961-4869
www.semcog.org