Information About The Crash
On September 4, 2024, AAPD posted on Facebook about a crash involving a scooter rider and a vehicle at the intersection of Hill and Packard. An MLive article covered the crash, and Reddit users discussed it in an r/AnnArbor Reddit thread and an r/uofm thread.
Screenshot of AAPD Facebook post, captured on September 6, 2024.
CIAA visited the crash site on September 5, 2024 and collected photographs of the intersection and the signals. Additional images were collected in December, 2024. .
The UD-10 report was released by AAPD after a FOIA request and it describes how a Spin scooter rider was seriously injured after colliding with the left side of a Jeep Wrangler. According to the report, the scooter rider turned left onto Hill from outbound Packard before the Jeep had cleared the intersection.
Excerpt of UD-10 report with diagram and narrative of the crash.
AAPD recorded statements from witnesses to the crash and they are included in the incident investigation report. They indicate some uncertainty and confusion about the state of the signals when the crash occurred. The following is an excerpt from pages 11 and 12 of the AAPD incident report, with italics added for emphasis and names shortened to initials.
I spoke with [witness AH] who stated substantially the following:
AH was in his vehicle Westbound on Hill, stopped at the red light at Packard. AH was the first vehicle in line, preparing for the light to go green. AH observed [scooter rider AB] on the spin scooter South on Packard in the Southbound bike lane coming up to Hill. AH observed AB make a left turn for Eastbound Hill in front of the white Jeep Wrangler. AB ultimately collided with the Jeep Wrangler. AH was certain the light was green for both directions as the light did not turn green for Hill until the crash had already happened.
I spoke with [witness CC] who stated substantially the following:
CC was on foot at the time standing on the Southeast corner of the intersection in front of Baba Dari restaurant. CC had intentions of walking across Packard toward Jimmy Johns restaurant on the Southwest corner. CC could not say for certain but believe she had a walk signal. CC observed AB on the spin scooter East on Hill st, and collided with a white Jeep that was North on Packard. CC was fairly certain all of Packard still had a green light because the observed a gray vehicle South on Packard when the collision occurred.
I spoke with witness [SB] who stated substantially the following:
SB was on foot on the sidewalk along the South side of Hill approaching Packard. SB stated she was not certain, but believed she witnessed the subject on a spin scooter traveling East through the intersection and collide with a white Jeep that was inbound on Packard. SB could not be certain on what signal either of the units had at the time of the collision.
SB stated that she could not be certain of either signal. CC stated that she believed she had a walk signal to cross Packard but later said that Packard traffic had a green light. Obviously, that combination of signals should never happen.
AH’s conclusion about the state of the Packard signal is not supported by his observation that the signal for Hill traffic was red when the crash occurred. CIAA collected video of the traffic signals at Hill and Packard. The signals in the video change on the following timeline:
- 00:00 Video start
- 00:02 Packard Traffic Signal Turns Yellow
- 00:05 Packard Traffic Signal Turns Red
- 00:08 Ped signal to cross Packard changes to “walk”
- 00:11 Hill Traffic Signal Turns Green
Nine seconds elapse between the time that the Packard signal turns yellow and the Hill signal turns green, so the fact that the Hill signal was red when the crash occurred does not necessarily support the assertion that the Packard signal was green. This 9 second duration between Packard going yellow and Hill going green is partially the result of the leading pedestrian interval (LPI). Ann Arbor is ahead of many municipalities in the adoption of LPI, and has changed the timing of many intersections to include LPI over the past few years. So AH’s conclusion about the signals, while incorrect in this specific case, might be correct in another city or another era.
Video of signal timing at the Hill/Packard intersection. The video is slowed to 20% of normal speed.
The AAPD report also mentions video footage from an adjacent restaurant:
I was able to speak with the manager of Baba Dari Mediterranean Restaurant which is located on the Southeast corner of the intersection. I was provided the outdoor CCTV of the collision. The video clarity is out of focus, but you are able to see the collision occur. The video does not show the light signal but does show traffic on Packard moving in both directions, indicating the light was likely green for inbound and outbound traffic on Packard. The video shows the subject on the spin scooter South on Packard making a left turn for Eastbound Hill and run into the side of the Jeep Wrangler.
This statement from the report is not definitive, and with good reason. CIAA received the footage after a FOIA request and is unable to draw any conclusions about the crash from what is shown. The video footage of the seconds before and after the crash can be viewed here. CIAA does not typically include video of crashes in posts. While this video does show footage of a tragic incident, the camera is not close, it is in poor focus, and much of the relevant portion of the field of view is obscured by closer objects and vehicles. In short, CIAA has included this video not because of what it shows, but rather because of what it doesn’t show.
The pavement in the intersection is in very good condition; this intersection was repaved in 2024, before the September 4 crash. The segment of Packard leading into the intersection, however, is rated poor, according to the Ann Arbor Pavement Condition Dashboard. Photographs collected in December, 2024, confirm this rating, with deep potholes in the vehicle lane near the intersection, including in the area before the intersection where a bike lane user is likely to merge before making a left turn.
Screen capture of Ann Arbor Pavement Condition Dashboard, taken on December 28, 2024.
The pavement on outbound Packard, leading into the intersection with Hill is in poor condition.
During the project that reconstructed the intersection of Hill and Packard, new pedestrian signals were also installed. The oblique intersection of these two streets creates a condition where the signals intended for users on one street are clearly visible to users on the cross street. After the initial site visit on September 5, the ambiguous orientation of the pedestrian signals was documented in an A2fixit request. Louvers were installed over the pedestrian signals to make them less visible from when viewed from an angle.
Recommendations:
Expert Evaluation
CIAA recommends expert evaluation of all serious and fatal crashes. The video evidence and witness accounts of the crash are not conclusive, and a larger team of experts, not just AAPD, need to review what happened and recommend changes to make this area safer for all users.
Other cities are already doing this kind of enhanced crash analysis. New York City sends a Department of Transportation representative to the scene of every fatal and serious injury crash to evaluate the area for immediate fixes and to aid in the investigation. They also generate quarterly reports on the crashes they have investigated and share them on the NYC DOT website.
We need to move away from a crash response process that consists largely of AAPD determining who is at fault. Instead, we need a process that includes analysis by a larger team, including engineering, of what might have contributed to the crash, or what likely contributed to the crash, and how best to remedy those conditions. Even if a potential contributor didn’t cause this crash–and we may never know if it did–we need to get it fixed before it causes the next crash.
Eliminate the Mixed Messages
The reports, witness accounts, and video footage do not indicate that the scooter rider was out of control on the scooter when the crash happened. It appears instead that the scooter rider chose the wrong time to make the left turn onto Hill. The witness descriptions also indicate confusion and uncertainty about the traffic signals.
Hill and Packard meet at an oblique angle of approximately 55 degrees. As a result of this angle, when making a left turn, and when looking in the direction of eastbound Hill from the intersection, road users are presented with 4 traffic signals and two pedestrian signals. While he was performing a difficult left turn maneuver, balancing on a scooter, in mid-day car traffic, all of these conflicting signals would have been clearly visible to the scooter rider.
Packard and Hill. The picture was taken from the perspective of a user in the intersection as if making a left turn onto eastbound Hill. Six different signals giving two opposite messages are visible from this location. The pedestrian signals (inset) are both clearly visible from this angle, even with the addition of the louvers.
4th and Packard form a similar angle, with the same number of traffic signals, but they are not all visible at the same time, as at Packard and Hill.
Confusion about the signals may or may not be the reason the scooter rider chose the wrong time to turn left. But it would be simpler and safer for everyone if the signals at this intersection did not inundate users with conflicting messages. There aren’t many other intersections in Ann Arbor where a left-turning user would encounter a similar angle, but one of them is only a few blocks away from Hill and Packard. Turning left from northbound 4th Ave. onto inbound Packard results in an almost identical angle, yet this intersection does not present similar mixed signals. The Packard and 4th design doesn’t need to be copied exactly for Packard and Hill, but it would be better if the intersection where this crash occurred had less ambiguity in its signals. Changes to the visors of the traffic and pedestrian signals might help. Changing the location and orientation of the pedestrian signal heads might help as well.
Fix The Road
The condition of the road does not appear to be a factor in this crash, as no witnesses observed that the scooter had been sent out of control before the collision. Nonetheless, it would be better, and safer, for scooter riders, bike riders, and motorists if Packard did not have deep potholes. Packard needs to be fixed. Funding for resurfacing is planned in Ann Arbor’s Capital Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2026 and 2027.
Fix the Scooters
Spin has demonstrated the ability to limit where their scooters can be operated. For their operations in Ann Arbor, the University asked Spin to prohibit scooter use on the Diag. The city has also mandated that Spin lower the top speed of their scooters while in the downtown area.
Spin has not applied this same geofencing technology to prevent operation of Spin scooters on roads that are in poor condition, instead leaving it up to their customers to identify and avoid pavement that is too uneven for the safe operation of scooters with small wheels. The city shares pavement condition publicly in the pavement condition dashboard, but Spin chooses not to use this information to help its customers. While pavement condition doesn’t appear to have been a factor in this crash, helping Spin customers avoid areas like Packard, which has pavement that is too rough for small scooter wheels, seems like a reasonable request for the city to make before renewing their contract with Spin.
CIAA has documented scooter crashes from June, 2023 and July 2023, including ideas for preventing or mitigating future incidents.
Conclusion
We may never know exactly what caused this scooter rider to turn in front of oncoming traffic. But there are changes that can be made to make this intersection safer for everyone.