State report: Vehicle crashes involving bicycles increased 10% in 2023

On June 19, a 39-year-old woman was fatally struck by a car while riding her bike in Georgetown Township. Her death serving as a powerful reminder about the true dangers of the road.

A report published this week by the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center lays out the number of crashes on Michigan roads in 2022 and 2023.

“We're seeing a huge shift in the culture of traffic safety, and we need to make some of these behaviors just taboo,” said Katie Bower, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.

“This is a public health issue. … Risky driving behaviors are killing people, and they are injuring people too.”

The report was created by compiling crash information from every law enforcement agency in the state.

“Law enforcement agencies, whether it's state or local, county, they have mobile data computers in their control vehicles,” Bower explained.

“As soon as a crash occurs, they are able to fill out their crash report electronically and send it immediately into the state.”

Here are some of the key findings in the report.

• A 2% decrease in overall traffic crashes (287,953 in 2023 vs 293,341 in 2022)

• A 2% decrease in deadly crashes (1,095 fatalities in 2023 vs 1,123 in 2022)

• A 10% increase in crashes involving cars and bikes from 2022 to 2023

• An 11% increase in pedestrian-involved crashes (2,114 in 2023 vs 1,897 in 2022)

• A 6% increase in pedestrian fatalities (183 in 2023 vs 173 in 2022)

• A 10% increase in bicycle-involved crashes (1,480 in 2023 vs 1,340 in 2022)

• A 33% decrease in fatal bike crashes (24 in 2023 vs 36 in 2022)

• An 8% decrease in alcohol-involved fatalities (297 in 2023 vs 322 in 2022)

• A 3% increase in drug-involved fatalities (256 in 2023 vs 249 in 2022)
  

You can read the full report HERE.

Tim Potter, a bicycle safety advocate and bike shop manager, emphasizes the importance of analyzing all crashes, including those close calls, to identify areas for improvement.

“If you only look at the end result of only the places where there's fatal crashes, then you're missing potentially future crashes that may end up in in a fatal or serious injury,” Potter said Thursday.

That is what the report aims to do.

“We can start doing more targeted initiatives … more education, more enforcement on the road,” Bower explained. “Maybe there's roadway improvements that we need to make. … Some structural things that need to happen.”

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