Michigan Fatal Bus Accident Statistics
There were 75 fatalities involving large trucks and buses in Michigan for 2015, which occurred in 69 accidents. This number is a significant decrease from the year before when 98 fatalities occurred in 87 crashes. The information is from a report by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). A total of 105 large vehicles were involved in these accidents, which was an increase over the 90 from the year prior.
The majority of the accidents involved multiple vehicles with 18 being single-vehicle crashes and 57 including two or more. Nationwide, studies show that most crashes which involve large vehicles are two-vehicle accidents.
A bus is defined in this report as any vehicle which can carry at least eight passengers in addition to the driver. Examples include transit and intercity buses, school buses, and the newer category of van-buses. With more buses on the road today, one might expect more fatalities, but they have actually decreased since 1975. At that time, there were just over 460,000 buses registered which has climbed to more than 870,000 in 2014 while the rate of deaths per million miles driven has dropped from 5.75 to 1.77.
The majority of bus accidents occur during the day on weekdays in non-work zones. They happen in clear weather and on dry pavement. Sixty percent occur on rural roadways rather than at intersections or on city streets.
Most large vehicle accidents in Michigan occur in the lower half of the state where counties reported between one and five fatalities for 2015 with the exception of one county reporting between six and 15 and another county reporting between 16 and 25. Wayne County had the highest total for the year with 19, which was up from 14 in 2014. Oakland County came in second with six, which was up slightly from five the year before.