Data shows 11 serious injury pedestrian crashes and one fatality.
One scooter crash is mis-categorized.
Traffic Crash data from calendar year 2023 is now available on Michigan Traffic Crash Facts (MTCF). A query of the MTCF data shows that traffic crashes in Ann Arbor resulted in 11 serious injuries and 1 fatality for pedestrians. That makes 2023 the worst year for Ann Arbor’s pedestrians since 2014, when they suffered 12 serious injuries and 2 fatalities. All 12 of the 2023 serious and fatal crashes have been documented here on Crashes in Ann Arbor (CIAA) and can be found in the Crash List.
Pedestrian crashes in Ann Arbor since 2011. 2011-2022 data is taken from the Ann Arbor traffic crash dashboard. 2023 data is from Michigan Traffic Crash Facts website.
Comparing the MTCF data to the CIAA crash list shows one high-profile omission: the scooter crash that killed Seth Sugar and is now the basis for a lawsuit against the city is included in the overall crash dataset for 2023, but it is not flagged as a pedestrian crash. A similar crash that seriously injured a scooter rider in June was flagged as a pedestrian..
Comparison of UD-10 reports for two separate scooter crashes in Ann Arbor. The report on the left shows “M” for motor vehicle, the report on the right shows “P” for pedestrian.
AAPD needs to be consistent in how scooter crashes are recorded. Better guidance from the UD-10 manual would make that easier for them to achieve–scooters are not defined or even mentioned in that document. When a decision is made about the right way to categorize scooter crashes, Ann Arbor’s 2023 data on MTCF should change. If scooter riders aren’t pedestrians, then there were 10 serious crashes and 1 fatality in 2023; if they are pedestrians, then there were 11 serious crashes and 2 fatalities.
One thing that won’t change: 2023 was a bad year for pedestrians in Ann Arbor.
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