As road deaths skyrocket, Michigan, other states should boost safety laws, group says
Michigan could do more to make its roadways safer for all users, according to a new report from a national safety group.
With 985 fatalities in 2019 and motor vehicle crashes costing an estimated $11.5 billion annually, not to mention the attendant misery, the Great Lakes State should do a better job of focusing on road safety, according to Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.
Michigan was one of 31 states that garnered a middle-of-the-road yellow ranking for its road safety laws. Another 11 states received a red ranking, falling “dangerously behind” in adopting the recommended laws, from seat belt enforcement to motorcycle helmet requirements.
The group gave its top, or green, ranking to eight states and Washington, D.C., for their approach on traffic safety laws.
A recent surge in road fatalities in the United States has underscored the need for change, not just in Michigan, but across the country, according to the group. Nationwide, the annual economic cost of motor vehicle crashes is an estimated $292 billion, resulting in the equivalent of an annual $877 crash tax for every person living in this country, the group said, noting that 38,680 people died in crashes in the United States in 2020.
“Over the past two years, our roadways have been more perilous and more fatal. Reports of increased risky driving behavior such as speeding, impairment, and lack of seat belt use ... have been confirmed by data from the U.S. Department of Transportation. During the first six months of 2021, motor vehicle crash deaths jumped nearly 20% — the largest increase of this type ever recorded in the history of the Fatality Analysis Reporting System,” according to Catherine Chase, president of Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, referencing a federal system used to track road deaths.
“The bottom line is that every day 100 people who are getting into their cars to run errands, drive car pools, commute to school or work, go to medical appointments, take family vacations, among other trips, are not returning home. These are deaths which could have been prevented,” Chase wrote in her introduction to the report.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, “an estimated 20,160 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the first half of 2021, up 18.4% over 2020,” representing the largest number of projected fatalities in that time period since 2006.
Having a legal framework designed to make the roads safer is the impetus behind Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety’s 19th annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws, being released Tuesday.
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In Michigan, Advocates recommends a variety of changes, including reimposing an all-rider motorcycle helmet law. Referencing an American Journal of Surgery study, the report noted that “after Michigan repealed its all-rider helmet law in 2012, the percentage of non-helmeted crash scene fatalities quadrupled.”
The current law in Michigan does require motorcycle operators and passengers to be at least 21 and have at least $20,000 in medical insurance benefits in order to ride without a helmet, according to a state website. Operators must also have held a motorcycle endorsement for two years or have passed a safety course.
In addition to an all-rider motorcycle helmet law, the group recommends five other laws in Michigan, including primary enforcement for seat belt usage for rear seat passengers, having rear-facing child seat requirements through age 2, a minimum age of 16 for a learner’s permit, a minimum age of 18 for an unrestricted license and requiring ignition interlocks for all drunk-driving offenders.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence. Become a subscriber.
How good are road safety laws?*
Green: California, Delaware, Louisiana, Maine, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, Washington, D.C.
Yellow: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Wisconsin
Red: Arizona, Florida, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming
*Green is the top ranking and red is worst, according to the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety 2022 Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan traffic laws: Safety group has suggestions in report
