Police no longer use sobriety checkpoints but road patrol officers are still looking for people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
The Fourth of July weekend is among the worst for fatal crashes, according to Michigan State Police, with an average 18 deaths. That matches the Thanksgiving weekend average. In 2019, the last time the Fourth of July weekend lasted four days, 19 people died in accidents, according to state police records.
Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center and the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute track crash figures every year.
Data from 2022, the most recent, shows 9,331 alcohol-involved crashes in Michigan with 322 fatalities statewide, and 2,452 drug-involved crashes that killed 249.
Nearly half of 2022’s fatal crashes involved drugs or alcohol.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration records show 487 people died in traffic crashes across the U.S. over the 2022 Fourth of July holiday weekend.
Nearly half, 196 or 40% of the fatalities, resulted from drunk-driving crashes.
Among 2022 fatalities, 27% involved at least one driver or motorcyclist with almost twice the legal limit of blood-alcohol content.
The group most likely to drink and drive: 21 to 34-year-olds accounted for 50% of drunk drivers.
.
From 2018 to 2022, there were 2,228 traffic crash fatalities during the Fourth of July holiday period and of those, 1,414 were drivers.