1995 Michigan Traffic Crash Facts

NHTSA · 1996 · ROSA P / Michigan. Office of Highway Safety Planning

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Summary

The 1995 Michigan Traffic Crash Facts report, produced by the Office of Highway Safety Planning and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, documents the state’s motor vehicle crash statistics for that year. The report addresses the rising trend in traffic fatalities and injuries, noting an 8.3 percent increase in deaths to 1,537 and a 2.9 percent increase in injuries to 146,303 compared to 1994. This resulted in a death rate of 1.8 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a 5.9 percent increase from the previous year. The study was motivated by the need to track these trends alongside exposure factors, which included a 1.1 percent rise in vehicle registrations to 7.75 million and a 0.1 percent increase in vehicle miles traveled to 85.7 billion. The data were compiled from 1995 Michigan Traffic Crash Report Forms (UD-10) submitted by local police, sheriff jurisdictions, and the Department of State Police, with supplementary information from the Departments of Transportation, State, and Public Health. A critical methodological change in 1995 involved the updating of the state traffic crash file to reflect alcohol involvement discovered after initial reporting through lab reports and death records. This adjustment aimed to align state data more closely with the USDOT Fatal Accident Reporting System, resulting in a higher reported count of alcohol-involved fatalities compared to previous years, though the report clarifies this reflects improved data accuracy rather than a sudden behavioral shift. Key findings indicate that alcohol consumption remained a major factor in serious crashes. While less than 6 percent of all crashes involved drinking, 36.9 percent of fatal crashes did. Alcohol-related fatal crashes were predominantly single-vehicle incidents, accounting for 60.7 percent of such cases, compared to 30 percent of all crashes. Single-vehicle crashes overall increased by 13.6 percent to 124,599. Excessive speed was cited as the hazardous action in 15.8 percent of fatal crashes. Restraint usage was reported at 79 percent for drivers and injured passengers, but only 38.7 percent for fatal victims. The economic loss from crashes totaled nearly $10 billion. Additionally, pedestrian fatalities rose to 190, and motor vehicle crashes remained the leading cause of accidental death for teenagers and young adults. The significance of these findings lies in the reversal of a long-term decline in fatalities that had persisted since the late 1980s. The report highlights that Michigan’s mileage death rate had risen to match the national average, signaling a plateau in safety improvements. The data underscore the disproportionate impact of alcohol on fatal outcomes and the vulnerability of specific demographics, particularly young drivers and pedestrians. By providing detailed breakdowns of crash types, locations, and contributing factors, the report serves as a critical resource for highway safety planning, law enforcement prioritization, and public health initiatives aimed at reducing traffic-related morbidity and mortality.

Key finding

Michigan recorded 1,537 traffic fatalities and 421,073 total crashes in 1995, with alcohol involved in 36.9 percent of fatal crashes.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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Topics

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• incidence prevalence
• fatality injury trends
• demographic disparities
• comparative international

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes