Driver inattention was officially responsible for about 5% of car accidents in Michigan in 2023.
Last year, there were 15,136 accidents involving distracted driving, a 2% decrease from 2022. Excluding 2020 due to pandemic-related inconsistencies, this was the lowest total since 2016.
Still, distractions caused by electronic devices, passengers and other activities inside and outside the vehicle were responsible for the deaths of 59 people and the injuries of 5,889 people, according to crash data released by Michigan State Police this summer.
Katie Bower, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), attributed the reduction in the number of accidents caused by distracted drivers to the state’s hands-free law.
Related: One year of hands-free devices: Drivers in Michigan no longer put their cell phones away, data shows
The law, which came into force on June 30, 2023, prohibits the use of mobile phones unless it is via Bluetooth or voice control, even when the vehicle is in traffic or at a traffic light.
“There is still much work to be done as we intensify our efforts to educate all age groups about the dangers of distracted driving,” Bower said in a prepared statement.
Twenty of Michigan’s 83 counties reported that distracted driving played a role in at least 5% of all traffic crashes. Menominee County in the Upper Peninsula had the highest distracted driving rate at 10.3% of crashes, followed by Keweenaw County at 9.1%.
Other counties with high rates included Gogebic, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Kent, Macomb and Ottawa at about 7%, and Kalamazoo, Oakland, Monroe and Washtenaw at about 6%.
Below is a map illustrating the prevalence of distracted driving in Michigan by county. Hover over a county to see its data.
Of the 20 counties with the most accidents in 2023, Calhoun saw the largest increase in distracted driving crashes (42.5%). Grand Traverse, Berrien, Livingston and Ingham counties also saw double-digit percentage increases.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest improvements were reported in Saginaw, Bay, Kalamazoo, Jackson and Muskegon counties.
Related: Michigan reports 4-year high in cyclists and pedestrians hit by cars
Below is a searchable database of each county’s distracted driver crash data in 2023, along with a comparison to 2022. Data comes from the Michigan State Police’s 2023 Year-End Report on Statewide Traffic Crashes.
When Michigan passed its hands-free law last summer, it became the 26th state in the U.S. to do so. Since then, three more states have passed their own laws.
The law prohibits entering GPS addresses while driving unless the GPS system is built into the vehicle and does not require a phone to operate.
An exception is provided by law for law enforcement or rescue forces as well as for emergency response.
Violation of the law is a civil infraction punishable by a fine of $100 or 16 hours of community service for the first offense. For a second offense, the potential penalty doubles. All fines and penalties for a driver of a commercial vehicle are double, starting at $200 or 32 hours of community service for the first offense and rising to $500 or 64 hours of community service for the second offense.
Overall, there were 287,953 traffic accidents in Michigan last year, resulting in 1,095 deaths and 71,085 injuries. The number of accidents, fatalities and drunk driving incidents decreased compared to the previous year, while the state reported an increase in accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles, as well as collisions in construction zones.
For more MLive data reports, visit mlive.com/daten.
