Posted on 04/23/2015 6:08:19 AM PDT by MichCapCon
According to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning, the rates of accidents, injuries, and fatalities on Michigan's roads have been decreasing for decades. Improved pavement conditions will make the roads safer, but drivers should feel at ease that transportation is less risky than it used to be.
The highway safety office reports that vehicle accidents are at all-time lows. There were 289,061 crashes in Michigan in 2013, when drivers traveled 95 billion miles on Michigan roads. Thus, there were three crashes per million miles traveled. Ten years ago, it was 3.9 crashes per million. Ten years before that it was 4.2 crashes per million. Ten years before that it was 4.7 crashes per million. Before that, it was even worse. (See the chart below.)
Fewer accidents mean fewer injuries on the roads. There are 0.7 injuries per million vehicle miles in 2013, a 53-percent reduction from 1993.
Deaths from road accidents have steadily decreased as well, with one fatality for every 100 million miles traveled. The state has not yet release the number of vehicle miles traveled in 2014, but the number of deaths in road accidents in 2014 was the lowest in a generation.
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When considering only at passenger cars and trucks, the situation is even better. The figures above include motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. For just cars and trucks, deaths per 100 million vehicle miles is less than half of what it was in 1995.
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Aside from the quality of pavement, other factors contribute to road accidents: According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Agency, 27 percent of road fatalities in Michigan involved a drunk driver and 7 percent involved motorcyclists riding without a helmet.
The May 5 vote on Proposal 1 has many talking about road safety. Road conditions are a relevant factor, and the state certainly should not wait for safety rates to worsen before addressing necessary road repairs.
In addition to raising taxes to spend more on the roads, the proposal makes a number of other changes to the Michigan Constitution and state statutes.
Improved road quality may lower these numbers even further and deteriorating roads would be detrimental to safety. Voters may want to shore up further gains through road improvements, but should feel comfortable that traffic safety trends continue to improve.
Proposal 1 of 2015: An Analysis
https://www.mackinac.org/21128
Looks like your people at the Mackinac Center do good work. Wish we had something like that where I'm at.
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!!!
I’ve seen this years “road construction” already -
They are LANDSCAPING the interchanges. Yep, we need NEW grass! They close down lanes in ALL 4 directions so they can bulldoze the old, re-shape the hill and re-sod.
And yet all the pot holes are still dominating our roads. I drive to Ohio regularly and NEVER have to see the “Welcome to Ohio” sign in order to know when I’ve crossed the border. My car just sigh’s “Thank you!”
And they want MORE of our money to “fix the roads and bridges”???
NUTS.
This won’t be a popular statement, and I will not be surprised to hear all sorts of anecdotal stories from fellow FReepers, but if texting and driving is as dangerous (or worse than) as DUI, then how are accident rates dropping if we all have smart phones in our cars?
PS, I have the national stats I’ve posted before here on FR, but in summary, from 1997 to 2012, the total count of auto accidents in the US has fallen from about 6.6 million per year to 5 million. Consider that in light of what has been in inarguable explosion in phone use in cars over that period.
So safer roads have more than offset the advancement of distracted driving?
The winter is a big predictor of accidents. Also, the Michigan left turn cuts down on accidents. And the shrinking of Detroit’s population cuts down on accidents.
New highways and bridges, I am not sure. I am sure that the worst roads are not the ones they are fixing. Look to the section of highway with the oldest congressman and you will find the most worked on road. Near me, that road is Interstate 94 in Paul Ryan’s district of Southern Wisconsin. I have never driven it and not found construction.
“fatalities on Michigan’s roads have been decreasing for decades”
As a kid in Detroit in the 50’s and 60’s, I was always amazed at the predictive powers of WJR Radio as to how many would die on Michigan roads during the upcoming holiday weekend.The number was usually spot on.
“When considering only at passenger cars and trucks, the situation is even better. The figures above include motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians. For just cars and trucks, deaths per 100 million vehicle miles is less than half of what it was in 1995.”
And Michigans gross weight is 164 thousand pounds for trucks with right amount/configuration of axles. Kinda shoots the holes in the heavy trucks are dangerous argument.
That’s because the roads are so bad, people can’t get to a speed that will kill them...
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