Bad economy drives down accident rate

Christina Stolarz / The Detroit News

The state's troubling economy is felt in all areas of life and that now includes life on the highway.

The poor economy, higher gas prices and motorists driving fewer miles are all key contributors according to a traffic-crash report that found there were 6,675 fewer traffic crashes in southeastern Michigan in 2008 than in 2007 -- a decline of about 5 percent.

"Michigan is in the news a lot for being at the bottom of the list for a lot of different things. But in terms of traffic safety, we're one of the national leaders," said Carmine Palombo, director of transportation planning at Southeast Michigan Council of Governments. "It's great news anytime you can decrease the number of people dying, the number of crashes, the number of injuries."

In 2008, there were 133,440 crashes that resulted in 35,928 injuries and 342 fatalities in southeastern Michigan, according to SEMCOG.

Compared with 2007, injuries decreased 2.5 percent and the number of fatalities fell more than 10.5 percent, according to SEMCOG.

The numbers represent 42 percent of the total crashes statewide, mirroring a national trend.

Traffic experts partially attribute the downward trend to the economy: Fewer jobs mean fewer people driving to work. Other contributors include increased seat belt usage, engineering road improvements, safer vehicles and a decreasing population.

"People are driving less," said Jim Rink, spokesman for AAA of Michigan.

"There are less opportunities for crashes to occur."

David Butterfield, 40, of Metamora said he's been driving less since the beginning of the month when he was laid off by General Motors Corp. Butterfield said he used to drive 52 miles roundtrip each day to the Lake Orion assembly plant where he worked as a production worker.

"I've been taking my kids to school every day, but I certainly don't drive as much to and from work," said Butterfield, noting he's not surprised that the number of crashes has gone down

While car crashes are down overall, motorcycle crashes were slightly up because the economy has forced others to rely on less expensive modes of transportation, Palombo said.

There were 1,456 traffic crashes involving motorcycles in 2008, a 1.7 percent increase over 2007."More people are riding motorcycles as a way of deferring the costs of vehicles and the cost of fuel," he said.

"We're seeing more of them on the street, and unfortunately more of them are involved in crashes. A crash of a motorcycle doesn't end good for the motorcyclist."

In 2008, there were 316,057 traffic crashes in Michigan, which is down from the year before and up from 2006.

Overall, traffic crashes statewide have declined since 2000, when there were 424,867 crashes, said Anne Readett, communications manager with the Office of Highway Safety Planning, a division of the Michigan State Police.

Nationally, a survey released earlier this year from the Governors Highways Safety Association said highway fatalities dropped significantly last year. Forty states had fewer highway deaths because of increased use of seat belts, stronger traffic laws and an increase in enforcement.

Motorist Jim Whiteford, 63, said he's noticed a significant decrease in traffic during his weekly jaunts to Ann Arbor over the past four months.

"It's not surprising because there's less traffic," said Whiteford, who owns a marketing and sales company based out of his Southfield home.

"It's nice, of course. Normally, (Interstate 275 and M-14) are pretty jammed and you have to be careful to pick your times."

Nancy Kalef said she also notices the traffic decreases as she runs errands and attends social functions.

"I think it's because people aren't working," said Kalef, 75, of Southfield.

"I think it's very sad even though it's easy to get from point A to point B."

cstolarz@detnews.com (313) 222-2650