Information About the Crash
On August 21, 2025, an MLIVE article described a crash between a scooter rider and a car that happened on August 19. A 52 year-old man was hit while riding an electric scooter through a crosswalk on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. near Fieldcrest. The driver was a 79 year-old woman.
CIAA visited the crash site on August 25 and collected pictures of the crosswalk and signage. The push button activation for the crosswalk lights was working properly. The foliage that obstructed the crosswalk sign and lights was reported with an a2Fixit ticket.
The mid-block crossing of Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., between Oakbrook and Fieldcrest, 6 days after the crash. Foliage from nearby trees obscured the clear view of the lights and sign.
An initial FOIA request for the incident reports related to this crash was denied in September, 2025 because the crash was still under investigation. After a second FOIA request in November, 2025 the UD-10 report was released. After a third FOIA request in March, 2026, the full incident report was released.
The UD-10 crash report describes the vehicle heading southbound on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. in the left lane. The scooter rider was crossing eastbound.
Excerpt of UD-10 crash report.
The AAPD case report for this crash included many additional details, including a summary of interviews with the driver, the scooter rider, and a witness. The driver’s summary is reprinted below. The driver’s name has been anonymized as R.S. and the scooter rider as T.P.
[R.S.] was very shaken up upon my initial contact with her and was very concerned for the well-being of [T.P.]. [R.S.] had already contacted her husband and made the scene prior to my contact with her. I asked for [R.S.] to describe the best of her abilities on how the crash happened. [R.S.] was South on Ann Arbor Saline going through the pedestrian crosswalk just North of Oakbrook. [R.S.] could not say for certain what lane she was using at the time the crash happened. [R.S.] was going through the intersection, and [T.P.] pulled out in front of her on a scooter traveling East through the crosswalk. [R.S.] was certain the crosswalk signals were not illuminated at the time [T.P.] was crossing. [R.S.] believed [T.P.] likely never stopped to yield to any on-coming traffic. [R.S.] ultimately collided with [T.P.] and her vehicle came to rest just South of the pedestrian crosswalk. [R.S.] tried to brake but wasn’t able to come to a stop before colliding.
The summary from the witness interview is reprinted below with her name anonymized as J.C.
I spoke with a witness over phone the following day 8/20, identified as [J.C.]. [J.C.] left the scene prior to contact with officers but left her phone number with dispatch. I asked [J.C.] to elaborate on what she saw. [J.C.] was outbound on Ann Arbor Saline in the right lane (curb lane) approaching the pedestrian crosswalk North of Oakbrook. [J.C] was able to see there was a pedestrian on a scooter that appeared he was going to cross very soon. [J.C.] started mentally preparing herself the pedestrian was going to walk into traffic prematurely and started to slow down. [J.C.] said the pedestrian hit the pedestrian walk signal button, the flashers illuminated and he immediately started crossing. [J.C.] hit the brakes quickly and was able to slow down in time. [J.C.] was concerned for [R.S.]’s vehicle which was in the left lane about one car length behind her. [J.C.] recognized [R.S.] was not slowing down, and ultimately collided with [T.P.].
The summary from the scooter rider interview is reprinted below.
On 08/20/2025 at approximately 1100 hours, Officer Gilbee and I responded to Michigan Medicine where [T.P.] was being treated to follow up with him. I asked [T.P.] if he could relay to me that he can remember yesterday leading up to when he was struck by a vehicle. [T.P.] said he was riding his scooter on the sidewalk South toward I-94. [T.P.] used the crosswalk to go East through the intersection and was struck by a car and that all he can remember. I asked [T.P.] if he stopped to make sure traffic was clear or slowing down for pedestrians and he stated yes. I asked [T.P.] if he remembered pushing the button for the pedestrian cross signals to illuminate and he stated yes.
The witness and crash victim interviews include some important details that are not included in the UD-10. Firstly, the witness and the scooter rider both confirmed that the yellow lights were activated at the crosswalk. Secondly, there were cars in both southbound lanes of Ann Arbor-Saline Rd., even though the UD-10 only shows one. Lastly, the witness’ vehicle was ahead of the one that struck the scooter rider, yet the driver was still able to stop before entering the crosswalk.
Recommendations:
Evaluation of This Crash By Transportation Experts
The Transportation Engineering staff of the City of Ann Arbor need to evaluate this crash and recommend changes to prevent future incidents like this one. Any serious or fatal crash in the city should get this kind of scrutiny, with a focus on both quick, interim fixes and long term solutions. Their evaluation should include traffic counts of vehicles and vulnerable road users.
Prune The Trees
This concept seems self-evident, but the crosswalks signs and lights are going to be less effective if they are not clearly visible to drivers. The city needs to do a better job about trimming foliage in areas like this. See also: S. Maple and Bens Pedestrian Crash. And they need to be proactive about it instead of waiting for SeeClickFix tickets to be raised.
The crosswalk signs and beacons are visible after the foliage has been removed.
Slow The Traffic
Let’s open our books once again to page 31 of Ann Arbor’s Transportation plan. The graphic there shows how only 1 out of 10 pedestrians will survive a crash with a vehicle going 40MPH. Importantly, this graphic does not show how many pedestrians experienced serious, life-altering injuries.
Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. has the highest speed limit in the city at 45MPH. Considering how deadly high speeds are for vulnerable roadway users, this scooter rider beat the odds just by surviving the crash. He did, however, sustain serious injuries.
The good news here is that the city has embarked on an ambitious effort to reconfigure 10 multilane road segments. The Ann Arbor Roadway Rightsizing (A2R2) study began in 2025 and will conclude in 2026. One of the primary goals of A2R2 is to slow traffic on fast, wide streets like Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.
Eliminate The Double Threat
When multiple vehicles in adjacent unidirectional travel lanes approach a crosswalk, one vehicle may block another driver’s view of pedestrians. This “double threat” appears to be a very likely contributor to this crash. The only way to eliminate the double threat is to eliminate the double lanes. Again, A2R2 is the best opportunity for this kind of improvement on Ann Arbor-Saline Rd. After the study is complete, the city needs to start planning for implementation of the reconfigurations of dangerous multilane roads like this one.