Michigan Auto Accident Report

Statement of Purpose

This Project aims to characterize traffic accident data in the State of Michigan. This includes Auto Accident Data, both Fatal and Non-Fatal, demographic data, and Vehicle Type.

Data Sources

Michigan Department of State Police 2020 Year End Traffic Crash Statistics. (TRCS)

Data Source: https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/msp/cjic/pdfs9/2020_year_end_traffic_crash_statistics.pdf?rev=4348f6d6236442c4bcd9b2307d574c4a

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatal Accident Report System (FARS)

Data Source: https://www.nhtsa.gov/file-downloads?p=nhtsa/downloads/FARS/

Michigan Auto Accident Overview

This dataset overviews the total number of accidents in Michigan in 2020.  The data is separated into four tabs. 

  • Total Accidents
    • Total Accidents that occurred in each County
  • Fatal Accidents
    • The total number of fatal accidents in each county.
  • Accidents per Individual
    • Using 2020 Census Data, this estimates the number of accidents per person in a county.
  • % of Fatal Accidents
    • This takes the total number of accidents and the total number of fatal accidents to identify which counties have the highest rate of fatalities. 

Important Takeaways

Higher Population Equals More Accidents

The total number of accidents correlates with the county’s population. This is true for both fatal and non-fatal accidents. 

Higher Population Does Not Equal Higher Chance to be in a Fatal Accident.

We see a different story develop when looking into the ratio of accidents per individual in the county.  Wayne County is the most populated county in the state, it also has the most accidents. However, when looking at accidents per individual, it ranks near the middle of the pack.  This proves to be true for % of accidents that are fatal as well.

Demographic Data

Age and Gender

– Men get into more accidents, and their accidents tend to be more fatal than women. 

– Ages 25-34 get into the most accidents for both genders. 

– Ages 85-94 have the highest percentage of fatal accidents. 

Vehicle Data

Vehicle

Passenger cars, SUVs, and Vans have the highest volume of accidents and fatal accidents. 

Motorcycles have the highest percentage of accidents that are fatal. Motorcycle accidents are 15 times more likely to be fatal than Passenger cars, SUVs, and Van vehicles. 

Manner of Fatal Accidents

Next Steps

Data that could add more context to the situation and create a clearer picture of the situation. 

 

Expland the Data Set

-Expanding the data set to five years  would increase the historical accuracy of the data. 

 

Breakdown of accidents by month. 

– This would allow us to view time data that could skew data with events like weather patterns, holidays, concerts, and more.

 

Connect Demographic and Vehicle data to county data.

–  This would allow us to see if some county’s having higher % of fatal accidents is due to the preferred vehicles or driver demographic.