Fatal Crashes Only
This report covers fatal crashes only, from the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System — the federal census of every crash on a US public road that killed someone within 30 days. It does not include injury or property-damage-only crashes, and its totals are not comparable with the all-severity crash reports published elsewhere on this site.
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YEAR-OVER-YEAR CRASH REPORT · MICHIGAN · SEPTEMBER 2023
Purpose: Machine-readable JSON endpoint for AI agents, LLMs, researchers, and programmatic consumers. Returns all underlying crash data and AI-generated commentary without HTML.
Authentication: None required. Public endpoint.
GET: https://thatcarhitme.com/api/crash-data/reports/data/michigan/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis
94 CRASHES IN
MICHIGAN
SEPTEMBER 2023
In September 2023, Michigan recorded 94 fatal crashes, a decrease of 13.76% from the 109 fatal crashes reported in September 2022. Fatalities also decreased by 9.73%, from 113 to 102. The most notable year-over-year shift was a 133.3% increase in hit-and-run fatal crashes, rising from 3 to 7.
94
▼ -13.8%was 109
Total Crash Events
102
▼ -9.7%was 113
Persons Killed
62
▼ -1.6%was 63
Persons Injured
7
▲ 133.3%was 3
Hit-and-Run Crashes
Note: "Persons Killed" (102) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (94) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records
Trend Summary
The overall trend for September shows a decrease in fatal crashes and fatalities year-over-year. Fatal crashes declined by 13.76%, from 109 in September 2022 to 94 in September 2023. Similarly, total fatalities decreased by 9.73%, from 113 to 102.
7
Hit-and-Run Crashes — September 2023
▲ 133.3% vs prior (3)
Hit-and-run fatal crashes increased significantly from 3 in September 2022 to 7 in September 2023, representing a 133.3% increase. The hit-and-run rate also rose from 2.8% to 7.4% of all fatal crashes.
Vulnerable Road User Casualties
17
Pedestrians Killed
1
Cyclists Killed
83
Motorists Killed
1
Other Killed
3
Pedestrians Injured
0
Cyclists Injured
59
Motorists Injured
0
Other Injured
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)
When Crashes Happen
The peak day for fatal crashes shifted from Thursday in September 2022, which had 23 fatal crashes, to Saturday in September 2023, with 17 fatal crashes. The peak hour for fatal crashes also shifted, from 7 PM (10 fatal crashes) in the prior period to 8 PM (9 fatal crashes) in the current period.
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)
Road & Environmental Conditions
Clear weather conditions remained the most common factor, with 75 fatal crashes in September 2023 compared to 74 in September 2022. Cloudy conditions decreased from 22 fatal crashes to 15, while fatal crashes in rainy conditions decreased from 8 to 4. Daylight conditions were associated with 49 fatal crashes in September 2023, a decrease from 58 in the prior period.
Weather
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Weather condition at time of crash
Lighting
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Lighting condition field
Vehicles & Demographics
Chevrolet vehicles involved in fatal crashes decreased slightly from 31 in September 2022 to 30 in September 2023. Ford vehicles also saw a decrease, from 26 to 23. Harley-Davidson vehicles involved in fatal crashes increased from 11 in the prior period to 16 in the current period.
Top Vehicle Makes (147 vehicles)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
4 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.
Sex Distribution (223 persons with recorded sex)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Speed Limit Zones
Fatal crashes in the 55 mph speed zone decreased from 49 in September 2022 to 36 in September 2023. Crashes in the 45 mph zone decreased from 14 to 11. Conversely, crashes in the 35 mph zone increased from 8 to 11.
Fatal crashes by zone: 25 mph: 8 of 8 (100%) · 30 mph: 2 of 2 (100%) · 35 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 40 mph: 9 of 9 (100%) · 45 mph: 11 of 11 (100%) · 50 mph: 3 of 3 (100%) · 55 mph: 36 of 36 (100%) · 65 mph: 3 of 3 (100%) · 70 mph: 4 of 4 (100%) · 75 mph: 1 of 1 (100%)
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Posted speed limit at crash location
Manner of Collision
The dominant manner of collision in both periods was "The First Harmful Event was Not a Collision with a Motor Vehicle in Transport," decreasing from 60 fatal crashes (55%) in September 2022 to 51 fatal crashes (54.3%) in September 2023. Angle collisions decreased from 30 (27.5%) to 20 (21.3%). Front-to-Front collisions increased from 5 (4.6%) to 11 (11.7%).
Manner of Collision
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Vehicle Type
Light Pickup vehicles were the most frequently involved body type in September 2023 with 34 occurrences, an increase from 28 in the prior year. Two-wheel motorcycles saw an increase in involvement from 22 to 27. 4-door sedans decreased from 35 to 28.
Vehicle Type
Showing top 9 of 16 reported. 7 additional (9 total) not shown: Minivan (Chrysler Town and Country, Caravan, Grand Caravan, Voyager, Voyager, Honda-Odyssey, ...), Unknown body type, Convertible(excludes sun-roof,t-bar), 5-door/4-door hatchback, 3-door/2-door hatchback, Golf Cart, Unknown light vehicle type (automobile,utility vehicle, van, or light truck).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Rural vs Urban
In September 2023, 58 fatal crashes occurred in urban areas and 34 in rural areas. This represents a decrease from September 2022, when there were 63 urban fatal crashes and 46 rural fatal crashes. The proportion of rural fatal crashes decreased from approximately 42.2% to 36.9% year-over-year.
Rural vs Urban
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Functional Class
Minor Arterial roads consistently accounted for 28 fatal crashes in both periods. Fatal crashes on Other Principal Arterial roads decreased slightly from 31 in September 2022 to 29 in September 2023. Major Collector roads saw a decrease from 22 fatal crashes to 13.
Roadway Functional Class
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Roadway Ownership
In September 2023, County Highway Agencies were associated with the highest number of fatal crashes at 42, a slight decrease from 43 in the prior period. State Highway Agencies saw a decrease from 50 to 38 fatal crashes. City or Municipal Highway Agencies also experienced a decrease, from 16 to 12 fatal crashes.
Roadway Ownership
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Type
Drivers remained the most common person type involved in fatal crashes, though their count decreased from 172 in September 2022 to 145 in September 2023. The number of pedestrians involved in fatal crashes doubled from 10 to 20. The number of passengers involved remained stable at 56 in both periods.
Person Type
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Person Injury Severity
The number of fatal injuries (K) decreased from 113 in September 2022 to 102 in September 2023. Serious injuries (A) remained stable at 22 in the current period compared to 23 in the prior period. Minor injuries (B) decreased from 21 to 17, while possible injuries (C) increased from 18 to 21.
Person Injury Severity
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Occupant Safety Equipment
The number of individuals using shoulder and lap belts in fatal crashes decreased from 126 in September 2022 to 103 in September 2023. The count of individuals with "None Used/Not Applicable" safety equipment also decreased from 70 to 58.
Occupant Safety Equipment
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Person-level records linked to crash events
Point of Impact
The "12 Clock Point" remained the most common point of impact, decreasing from 99 occurrences in September 2022 to 84 in September 2023. "Non-Collision" events decreased from 11 in the prior period to 10 in the current period. The "6 Clock Point" (rear impact) saw a slight increase from 12 to 14.
Point of Impact
"Other" combines 9 smaller categories (14 records): 3 Clock Point (3), 1 Clock Point (2), Left-Front Side (2), Reported as Unknown (2), Right-Back Side (1), 5 Clock Point (1), 8 Clock Point (1), Left-Back Side (1), 7 Clock Point (1).
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Vehicle unit records
Vehicles Per Crash
Single-vehicle fatal crashes decreased from 54 in September 2022 to 44 in September 2023. Two-vehicle fatal crashes increased slightly from 41 to 44. Fatal crashes involving three vehicles saw a notable decrease from 14 to 5.
Vehicles Per Crash
Source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · Federal fatal-crash census · 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30 · Crash-level records
Data Sources & Methodology
Primary Data Source
All crash data in this report is sourced from NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), accessed programmatically via the NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.
Data Retrieval
- Access method: NHTSA FARS Open Data API (SoQL queries)
- Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
- Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
- Date filter applied: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30
- Report generated: August 5, 2026
Data Coverage
- Reporting period: 2023-09-01 through 2023-09-30 (30 days)
- Geographic scope: Michigan
- Total crash records analyzed: 94
- Total persons involved: 226
- Total vehicles involved: 147
Analytical Methodology
- Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
- Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
- Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
- Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
- Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
- Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
- AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.
Limitations & Disclaimers
- Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
- Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
- Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
- AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
- Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.
Non-Affiliation Disclosure
This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.
Data License
The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.
Corrections & Feedback
If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.
Suggested Citation
ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "Michigan Crash Intelligence Report: September 2023." Published August 5, 2026. Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2023-09-30. Data source: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes), NHTSA FARS Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/michigan/fatal/statewide/september-2023-report
About the Publisher
ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.
Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai
ThatCarHitMe.com · An Injuria.ai Company
ThatCarHitMe.com
An Injuria.ai Company
Crash Data Intelligence
Data: NHTSA FARS (Fatal Crashes) · NHTSA FARS
Period: 2023-09-01 – 2023-09-30
Generated: August 5, 2026 · All rights reserved
Someone you love in this data? We’ll help you find out if you have a case.
Call our intake team. We connect you to a vetted Michigan attorney who handles fatal-crash and wrongful death cases, and who will treat your family’s situation with care.
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