These Highways Are Not Getting Safer
If you drive I-94 through Detroit, you already know. The stretch between the Lodge Freeway interchange and Metro Airport is a white-knuckle experience in good weather. Add January ice, construction season lane shifts, or a Friday afternoon rush and it becomes a question of when, not if, the next serious crash happens. Our firm has handled cases from nearly every major interchange on I-94, I-75, and I-96 in the metro area, and the patterns are disturbingly consistent.
I-94: Detroit to Ann Arbor and Beyond
I-94 runs straight through the heart of Detroit and connects to Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and eventually Chicago. The most dangerous sections are not random. The I-94/I-96/M-10 interchange downtown is an engineering nightmare — three freeways merging in a compressed space with inadequate signage. The I-94/Southfield Freeway interchange in Dearborn funnels Ford Motor Company commuter traffic into a bottleneck that produces rear-end pileups weekly. And the I-94 corridor through Romulus and Taylor near Metro Airport sees distracted drivers missing exits while checking flight times on their phones.
I-75: The Backbone of Southeast Michigan
I-75 carries more commercial truck traffic than almost any other Michigan highway. The I-75/I-696 interchange in Royal Oak and Madison Heights is a perpetual construction zone where lane configurations change monthly and confused drivers make sudden lane changes. The I-75 corridor through Monroe County heading toward Toledo funnels semi-truck traffic into a two-lane stretch that has produced some of the worst multi-vehicle crashes in the state's history. Trucking companies know these corridors are dangerous. Their drivers are often pushed to drive through them on tight schedules anyway.
What Makes These Crashes Different
Highway accidents at 70+ mph produce fundamentally different injuries than surface street collisions. The force involved is exponentially greater. We see catastrophic spinal injuries, traumatic brain injuries from vehicle rollovers, crush injuries from multi-vehicle pileups, and fatal ejections. The vehicles are often so destroyed that accident reconstruction is essential to determine which driver caused the initial collision.
MDOT and Government Liability
Sometimes the highway itself is the problem. Michigan roads are in notoriously poor condition, and the Michigan Department of Transportation is responsible for maintaining safe highway conditions. When a pothole causes a tire blowout at highway speed, or when inadequate signage contributes to a wrong-way entry, MDOT may be liable. But suing a government entity in Michigan requires strict compliance with the Governmental Immunity Act including a 120-day written notice requirement. Miss that deadline and the claim dies regardless of how clearly the road was at fault.
What to Do After a Highway Crash
Get to safety first. Call 911. Do not stand on the highway shoulder — secondary crashes kill people every year in Michigan. If you can, photograph the scene from inside your vehicle. Get the police report number. Seek medical attention within 24 hours even if adrenaline is masking your pain. And call an attorney before you talk to any insurance company — the adjuster who calls you tomorrow is not trying to help you.
If you were injured on a metro Detroit highway, call Koussan Law at (313) 800-0000. We know these roads, we know these cases, and we know how to win them.
