Another dashboard: Traffic crashes trending in the wrong direction

In the early years of Governor Snyder’s first term, he was constantly discussing the need for “dashboards” and they sprung up everywhere. Everyone was measuring all kinds of things and posting them. The idea is to benchmark important components of state government and track their movement over the years – obviously with the hope of seeing improvement. That has not worked very well for some of the public infrastructure items such as pavement and bridge conditions. Despite measuring and posting every year, conditions continue to deteriorate. You can now add traffic crashes to that same list.
Analysis by SEMCOG of the recently released 2014 traffic crash data indicates that the number of total crashes – 136,636 – is up for the second year in a row in Southeast Michigan and fatal traffic crashes in the region have increased for the fifth consecutive year, with 371 crash fatalities! Traffic crashes for the entire state have also increased for the second consecutive year.
There are some interesting trends we have seen:

• More than half of Southeast Michigan traffic fatalities in the last five years were from single-vehicle crashes. Other factors that were involved in a high percentage of traffic fatalities include lane departures (39%), young drivers (31%), intersections (27%), and pedestrians (25%).
• While pedestrians are involved in only one percent of accidents, pedestrian crashes account for 25 percent of all traffic fatalities in our region. Nationwide, that number is 13 percent.
• The five-year running trends of pedestrian and motorcycle fatalities are up 38 percent and 31 percent, respectively. While the number of total crashes involving bicyclists decreased in Southeast Michigan, fatalities (12) were up in 2014.

This is totally unacceptable. So what are we doing about it? Well, it is going to take the collective efforts of all of us to improve safety. SEMCOG has assembled a Road Safety Task Force, with Romulus Mayor LeRoy Burcroff serving as chairperson, to develop a Regional Safety Plan for Southeast Michigan. The objective is to identify key safety needs that guide investment decisions to reduce fatalities and serious injuries on all public roads. This plan will also be integrated into the region’s Long-Range Transportation Plan and will be used by Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to prioritize the funding of safety projects in the region.

Personal behavior is a major cause in traffic accidents. Below are some common-sense tips to avoid traffic crashes:

• Always wear a safety belt.
• Always wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle or bicycle.
• Be safe. Be seen! Use lights and/or wear bright clothing when walking, cycling, or riding a motorcycle.
• Obey all traffic laws.
• Share the road safely – be courteous!
• Don’t tailgate – keep safe distances while driving.
• Avoid distractions while driving, biking, and walking.
• Reading, typing, or sending a text while driving is illegal in Michigan.

Traffic crash data is available on the transportation section of Community Profiles on SEMCOG’s website. More information on traffic safety can be found on the SEMCOG Safety page. More detailed analysis will be available on SEMCOG’s website in the coming months.

We need to start measuring success – not continued deterioration. Please be part of the solution.