Fewer Car Wrecks Post COVID, But More Car Wreck Fatalities

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/10/2025) The number of traffic crashes on Michigan roads has slowed since COVID, but the wrecks that do happen are more serious and more deadly, based on MIRS's look into Michigan Traffic Crash Facts data posted on the Michigan State Police's website.

In the four years prior to 2020, Michigan averaged 300,429 car crashes a year. In the four years since COVID (2021-2024), Michigan is averaging 279,142, a 7 percent decline. However, fatalities in those wrecks is up 12.5 percent (923 to 1,038). The trend actually started during the COVID year of 2020.

During COVID, fewer cars were on the road. That resulted in faster drivers and more serious and fatal crashes, said Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning Director Alicia Sledge.

With fewer wrecks, on average, Michigan drivers are doing better in certain areas. The average number of annual drinking-related crashes is down post-COVID by 8 percent. The average number of drug use-related crashes is down 7.1 percent. Drivers are more mindful of pedestrians and bicyclists. Car-pedestrian crashes are down 12 percent, while car-bicyclists wrecks are down 15 percent.

Younger drivers appear to be avoiding crashes, too. Wrecks involving 16-year-olds are down 9 percent in the four years after COVID compared to the four years before COVID.

Now the bad news. Crashes involving fleeing and eluding drivers is up 29 percent (574 compared to 740). Wrecks involving motorcyclists are up 9.1 percent (2,882 to 3,144).

"We just want to remind people we're all out there together and want to make sure that we're all keeping each other safe," Sledge said.

Those accidents involving distracted driving are down 12 percent based on the numbers, but Sledge isn't buying that one. She said drivers are getting into crashes, but not confessing that they were on their phones.

"If there is a traffic crash and law enforcement gets there, they're not going to say, 'Oh, well, I accidently hit them because I was talking on the phone or sending a text.' The people are not going to say that. They're just going to be like, 'They stopped, and I didn't see them,'" Sledge said.

Sledge said her office does a handheld device survey, and found that 2025 saw an uptick in phone usage from 2024. In 2023, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a $100 fine for drivers who look at their phone while driving.

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