Michigan Traffic Fatalities Doubled Over 2018 Holiday Season
Operation C.A.R.E. (Crash Awareness and Reduction Efforts) is a national safe driving campaign aimed at reducing traffic crashes and fatalities on U.S. highways and is led by state and highway patrol agencies from all 50 states. The lifesaving program began in 1977 as a collaborative effort between Michigan State Police (MSP) and Indiana State Police. Today, the campaign is one of the nation’s longest running traffic safety initiatives and is often highlighted during periods of time when traffic crashes are known to surge such as spring break, Independence Day, Halloween and Christmas. Fatalities and serious injuries from motor vehicle crashes remain on the rise throughout these times but reach an alarming height between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
Dubbed as a C.A.R.E. Lifesaver Weekend, beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, December 21, and ending at 11:59 p.m., on Sunday, December 23, 2018, the weekend before Christmas is too often left with a log of traffic accident related tragedies. Preliminary accident reports released by Michigan State Police (MSP) show that despite C.A.R.E.’s extra awareness efforts to keep travelers safe on Michigan roadways, statewide fatalities more than doubled as a result of fatal traffic crashes compared to the same weekend in 2017. Preliminary numbers reported show 10 people who lost their lives in nine separate traffic crashes the weekend before Christmas. In 2017, MSP police officials reported four people lost their lives in four separate traffic crashes during this same time period.
Pedestrians, Seat Belts and Alcohol Involved in Holiday Driving Accidents
Of the 10 fatalities reported over this 2018 holiday weekend, four were pedestrians. Four of the occupants were either not wearing seat belts or restraint use was unknown. Three of the fatal 2018 weekend crashes involved alcohol.
- Across Michigan, serious injuries resulting from crashes between motor vehicles and pedestrians has been on the rise since 2015 according to Michigan State police and the Criminal Justice Information Center. Pedestrians are far more vulnerable to injury or death in a crash than drivers and passengers in cars for obvious reasons.
- In addition, the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute shows impaired drivers stay responsible for contributing to high numbers of holiday crashes and found that those who choose to drive drunk often have poor decision-making skills and slower reaction time and are more likely to drive drugged as well.
- Another cause of holiday-time-accidents emerged from research facilitated by the University of Michigan in 2017. Using Michigan State Police traffic crash reports, researchers concluded distracted driving crashes tallied twice as high as drunk driving across the state in the previous year’s holiday season.
Dangerous driving decisions and risky operator behaviors too often result in serious injuries and fatal traffic crashes and occur more often when drivers are traveling on congested roadways, while impaired or distracted and can happen any time of the year.
Contact Us to Discuss Your Motor Vehicle Accident Injury Case
Our attorneys at The Lee Steinberg Law Firm have represented accident victims for over 40 years and are experts on these cases. If you or a loved one have been involved in a car crash during the holiday season or any other time of the year, our Michigan personal injury attorneys will fight to ensure you receive the compensation and benefits you deserve.
Please call Lee Free at 1-800-LEE-FREE (1-800-533-3733) or fill out the Free Case Evaluation Form. And remember, you pay nothing until we settle your bicycle and pedestrian accident case.
Read: Distracted Driving Crashes Spike During the Holiday Season
