2002 Michigan Traffic Crash Facts

NHTSA · 2003 · ROSA P / Michigan. Office of Highway Safety Planning

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Summary

The "2002 Michigan Traffic Crash Facts" report provides a comprehensive statistical analysis of traffic safety in Michigan for the calendar year 2002. Produced by the Michigan Department of State Police and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, the document aims to summarize crash data to support highway safety planning and injury reduction efforts. The report aggregates data from Traffic Crash Report Forms (UD-10) submitted by law enforcement agencies, alongside exposure data from state departments regarding vehicle registrations and driver licensing. The methodology relies on administrative records compiled by the Criminal Justice Information Center. Key exposure metrics for 2002 included 8.69 million motor vehicle registrations, 7.14 million licensed drivers, and 98.17 billion vehicle miles traveled, representing increases of 1.0%, 0.7%, and 1.8%, respectively, over 2001. The report includes specific caveats regarding data integrity: processing errors misidentified approximately 800 pedestrians and 700 bicyclists as drivers, and ignition interlock data is deemed unreliable for analysis. Additionally, alcohol-related crash data from 2000 onward excludes drug-related incidents, preventing direct comparison with pre-2000 figures. The primary findings indicate a decline in traffic fatalities and crashes despite increased road usage. There were 1,279 fatalities in 1,175 fatal crashes, a 3.7% decrease from 2001. The death rate fell to 1.3 per 100 million vehicle miles, a 7.1% drop from the previous year and below the 1993–2002 ten-year average of 1.6. Total reported crashes decreased by 1.3% to 395,515, while injuries remained nearly stable with a 0.2% decrease. Alcohol remained a significant factor in severe crashes; 32.7% of fatal crashes involved drinking, and 43.9% of alcohol-related crashes resulted in injury or death. Single-vehicle crashes were disproportionately associated with alcohol, accounting for 60.9% of alcohol-related fatal crashes compared to 32.9% of all crashes. The significance of this report lies in its detailed breakdown of crash characteristics, including age, gender, roadway type, and impairment status, which informs targeted safety interventions. The data highlights that while overall crash rates improved, alcohol involvement remains a critical contributor to fatal outcomes. The report also provides granular data on specific crash types, such as red-light running, heavy truck involvement, and deer-vehicle collisions, offering a baseline for evaluating the effectiveness of safety programs and legislative measures like Graduated Driver Licensing and zero-tolerance laws.

Key finding

Michigan recorded 1,279 traffic fatalities in 2002, a 3.7 percent decrease from 2001, with 32.7 percent of fatal crashes involving alcohol.

Methodology

dataset

Provenance

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Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• incidence prevalence
• fatality injury trends
• demographic disparities
• comparative international
• crash typology
• sex gender

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, observational prevalence
• Methodological Resource: dataset resource