Oakland County’s 2025 traffic-fatality rate was about 40% below both the state and national averages, according to preliminary figures released by the Road Commission for Oakland County.

The county had a reported rate of 0.67 deaths per 100 million miles of vehicle travel, compared with 1.08 statewide and 1.10 nationally, according to the Road Commission for Oakland County. The accompanying table, compiled by the National Transportation Safety Organization, notes that the 2025 figures are not based on finalized Michigan State Police crash data.

RCOC estimates that matching the national fatality rate would mean approximately 60 additional deaths annually on Oakland County roads.

“That’s a huge deal,” RCOC Managing Director Dennis Kolar said in the agency’s Nov. 9 release. “That’s 60 families every year that do not have to suffer the loss of a loved one.”

Oakland County’s rate was also lower than neighboring Wayne and Macomb counties in 2025, according to the table. The county has posted the lowest, or among the lowest, traffic-fatality rates in Michigan nearly every year for the past several decades, the agency said.

How the county uses crash data

RCOC traces its emphasis on safety to 1978 and describes itself as an early adopter of crash analysis to guide construction and maintenance.

Kolar said crash analysis helps determine which projects the agency undertakes, how they are designed and which maintenance work takes priority. He said that approach keeps political influence out of those decisions.

“Most people don’t realize it,” Kolar said, “but when they are driving in Oakland County, they are driving on some of the safest roads in the nation.”

RCOC credited the National Transportation Safety Organization, an Oakland County-based nonprofit focused on data-driven traffic safety, as a longtime partner. NTSO was established in 1967 and focuses on road and aviation safety, according to its website.

A 2006 Federal Highway Administration report documented RCOC’s project-prioritization methods and the Oakland County Traffic Improvement Association’s role in collecting and analyzing crash data. NTSO identifies that recognition as part of its history.

Residents with questions about RCOC’s safety work can contact the agency at 877-858-4808 or visit rcocweb.org.