Our accident attorneys share the most dangerous Michigan highways based on areas with the most car crashes and injuries, according to 2018 official accident reporting data
Do you regularly drive on one of the most dangerous Michigan highways?
To help drivers keep their loved ones and families safe, our accident attorneys have compiled a list of the Michigan highways with the most reported car accidents and personal injuries based on official crash data for 2018. This is the most up-to-date information available.
What are the key takeaways from our list? They include:
- The majority of high car crash and high injury road segments along Michigan highways were either in densely populated areas with heavy traffic (not surprising) or around interchange on/off ramps to other highways or roads. When those two factors are combined together, the chance of a car crash increases dramatically. Drivers are changing lanes and merging with slower traffic and there are more vehicles on the road to be involved in a crash with. Add in the prevalence of texting and distracted driving and the increased dangers of large trucks and the result is an increased danger to all drivers.
- The top ten most dangerous Michigan highways have speed limits of 70 MPH and half of them are along I-75 in Oakland County which also had major construction projects affecting traffic in 2018.
Our hope as accident attorneys in compiling this list is that once you know where the potential danger areas are, you will be able to make informed decisions about whether you and your family should consider taking alternate routes. Or that you will at least drive with greater-than-usual caution on these Michigan highways. Sadly, these tragedies come as no surprise given the dangerous mix of high speeds, merging traffic, semi-trucks and the ever-worsening distracted driving crisis.
And greater caution is certainly needed. In 2018, more than 40% of all fatal Michigan car crashes occurred on Michigan highways, according to Michigan Traffic Crash Facts. Additionally, here is what the MTCF has reported about the months, days and times that are most dangerous for highway travel:
- January and February had by far the highest number of injury crashes compared to the remainder of the year.
- Fridays and Mondays had the highest volume of injury crashes in a given week.
- The time range of 3pm to 7pm in any given day saw the highest amount of injury crashes.
Each year, our accident attorneys also assemble a list of Michigan’s most dangerous intersections based on the number of car crashes that have occurred at those interchanges.
Below I will take a closer look at the most dangerous Michigan highways all across the Great Lakes State based on the number of crashes and injuries that occurred on those stretches of road.
Most Dangerous Michigan Highways in Oakland County
If you’re driving through Royal Oak or Troy, be careful. Or maybe find a different route to your destination.
- Eastbound I-696 between Bermuda Mohawk and Campbell Hilton, Royal Oak, Oakland County – 84 Total Crashes, 39 Crashes Involving Injury: This stretch of road between Woodward Avenue and the I-75 interchange is not quite a half mile in length but the daily traffic volumes are extremely heavy. Plus, it didn’t help that road construction in 2018 likely affected the car accident and injury numbers. Not only did this stretch of highway have far more crashes than even the number two segment (84 versus 68), it also had almost double the number of crashes involving injury than any other highway segment in the state with 39 in 2018.
- Southbound I-75 between 14 Mile Road Exit Ramp and 14 Mile Road overpass, Troy, Oakland County – 68 Total Crashes, 19 Crashes Involving Injury: At just two-tenths of a mile, this stretch of southbound I-75 from the exit ramp onto W 14 Mile Road to where it goes over 14 Mile Road had 68 crashes in 2018. This was the second highest in the state for highway road segment crashes. Use caution as ongoing construction in this area will affect 2019 traffic data as well.
- Southbound I-75 between 11 Mile Road exit ramp and 11 Mile Road overpass, Royal Oak, Oakland County – 47 Total Crashes, 22 Crashes Involving Injury: Another interchange road segment along busy I-75 had the second highest number of crashes involving injury in the state. With major construction underway in 2018, 11 Mile Road was likely used heavily as an alternate route with last minute lane changes to exit the interstate contributing to the dangerous and congested road conditions.
Most Dangerous Michigan Highways in Detroit
Make sure your eyes are on the road when you’re driving I-75 through the Motor City.
- Northbound I-75 between the service drive Warren Ave exit and I-94 exit, Detroit, Wayne County – 42 Total Crashes, 17 Crashes Involving Injury: The stretch of road between these two exits has heavy traffic volume with drivers merging and changing lanes right before the heavily traveled I-94/I-75 interchange. This segment also had the highest number of injury crashes as well for the city of Detroit.
- Northbound I-75 between the 7 Mile exit ramp and the 7 Mile overpass, Detroit, Wayne County – 35 Total Crashes, 7 Crashes involving Injury: Despite being less than half a mile long, this other busy stretch of I-75 just south of 7 Mile Road saw a lot of crashes in 2018. Use caution as drivers are changing lanes.
Most Dangerous Michigan Highways in Grand Rapids and Kent County
When you’re driving through Grand Rapids and Kent County, be extra careful if you’re on US-131.
- Northbound US-131 exit ramp between I-96 West exit and Alpine Avenue, Walker, Kent County – 39 Total Crashes, 8 Crashes Involving Injury: This road segment is actually an exit ramp off of US-131 that takes drivers to busy Alpine Avenue. With 39 total crashes, it had the highest amount in 2018 for Kent County. Luckily the number of those involving injury was fairly low with just 8 last year.
- Southbound US-131 between Wealthy Street exit ramp and Wealthy Street overpass – 38 Total Crashes, 17 Crashes Involving Injury: At just under two-tenths of a mile, this stretch of US-131 had the highest number of highway injury crashes in Kent County last year. In addition, the intersection above US-131 at Wealthy had the highest amount of total as well as injury crashes in 2018 with 85 and 24 respectively. Use caution in this busy area both on US 131 as well as the on/off ramps around the area.
Most Dangerous Michigan Highways in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County
A common denominator for high crash frequency highways in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County is US-23. Drive carefully.
- Northbound US-23/Westbound M-14 between the railroad overpass and M-14/US-23 Exit Ramps, Ann Arbor Township, Washtenaw County – 26 Total Crashes, 4 Crashes Involving Injury: As M-14 drivers are forced to exit onto one of two busy Michigan highways , many are trying to merge into the correct lane through this road segment. This likely causes many of the 26 crashes that occurred there in 2018. Luckily there was a very low rate of crashes involving injuries.
- Southbound US-23/Eastbound M-14 between Nixon Road and Eastbound M-14/Southbound US-23 Exit Ramps, Ann Arbor Township, Washtenaw County – 26 Total Crashes, 2 Crashes Involving Injury: Tied with the above stretch of highway at 26 crashes, this segment is within the same vicinity along the area where three major Michigan highways converge. As drivers once again have to merge lanes to continue onto either US-23 or M-14, crashes are likely to occur.
Most Dangerous Michigan Highways in Lansing and Ingham County
Although Leroy Township had the most crashes in 2018, Lansing Township had the most crashes resulting in injury.
- Eastbound I-96 between Meech Road and Dietz Road, Leroy Township, Ingham County – 22 Total Crashes, 5 Crashes Involving Injury: In between the cities of Williamston and Webberville, this eastbound stretch of I-96 which is roughly 1.7 miles saw the most highway car crashes in Ingham County in 2018. As many commuters who travel I-96 frequently know, this area seems to slow down at times to a crawl but eventually clears up before Fowlerville. Thankfully there were only five crashes on this stretch of highway that involved injury.
- Southbound US-127 between Michigan Avenue and Kalamazoo Street, Lansing Township, Ingham County – 17 Total Crashes, 10 Crashes Involving Injury: Just east of downtown Lansing is another road segment on a busy freeway where once again drivers are merging lanes to exit onto I-496 west or they are staying on US-127 to continue south. With commuters going home from both the busy downtown area as well as the large Michigan State University campus, traffic goes slow through this area in the evening hours. This road segment also had the highest number of crashes involving injury of any stretch of highway in Ingham County.
Michigan State Police crash data for the Most Dangerous Michigan Highways
Our accident attorneys would like to thank the Michigan State Police Traffic Crash Reporting Unit for their tireless work in compiling the crash and injury data that we used to identify the highways with the highest number of reported car crashes.
The MSP-TCRU defines a road segment as a state designated stretch of road varying in length from less than 1/10th of a mile to up to 2 miles. The data provided to Michigan Auto Law includes reported motor vehicle crashes along interstates and U.S. routes but does not include Michigan routes, county roads or divided highways with traffic signals.
The MSP-TCRU’s data is a compilation of the official traffic crash data from motor vehicle accident reports filed by police and local law enforcement throughout Michigan.
