The roundabout at 18 1/2 Mile and Van Dyke Avenue in Sterling Heights was Michigan’s most dangerous intersection last year, according to a study by attorneys who specialize in auto crash law.
The Farmington Hills-based Michigan Auto Law released its list for the year on Wednesday.
“Even when a crash doesn’t result in an injury, it can have a significant impact on a driver and their family,” Steve Gursten, an attorney and Michigan Auto Law’s president, said in a statement. “We hope this annual list encourages Michigan drivers to slow down, remain alert, and take extra precautions when traveling through these areas.”
The firm compiles the list annually. Last year, the Interstate 696 service drive/11 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue intersection was ranked Michigan’s most dangerous.
How the rankings are determined
Attorneys at the firm base the rankings in the study on their analysis of Michigan State Police data on car crashes at intersections statewide for the previous year.
The data includes crashes and injuries that happened within 200 feet of an intersection, which they define as roads with a traffic signal, a four-way stop, or a roundabout.
The Sterling Heights roundabout at 18 1/2 Mile had 210 crashes and 12 crash-related injuries in 2025, according to Michigan Auto Law’s analysis. Total crashes at the intersection rose 29.6% from 162 in 2024, the report said. Total injuries remained flat.
In January, the law firm deemed the roundabout the state’s most dangerous.
“The Van Dyke and 18 1/2 Mile roundabout, which is an MDOT facility, carries an exceptionally high volume of traffic, so it is not surprising that it records a number of minor, property-damage crashes,” Sterling Heights City Engineer Brent Bashaw said in a statement on Thursday. “However, the most important measure of safety is crash severity, and our reviews of data from 2019 through 2025 found no fatal or serious-injury crashes at this location. That’s consistent with the main purpose of roundabouts, which is reducing the high-speed, head-on and T-bone crashes that are most likely to cause severe injuries or fatalities.
“As part of our Vision Zero initiative to eliminate fatal and serious-injury crashes citywide, Sterling Heights will soon hire a dedicated traffic engineer to provide even greater focus on crash analysis, traffic operations and proactive safety improvements throughout our growing transportation network.”
The other cities on the list
The remainder of the firm’s 20 most dangerous, crash-prone Michigan intersections in 2025, based on the number of collisions and injuries, are:
- 2. Interstate 696 service drive/11 Mile Road and Van Dyke Avenue in Warren/Center Line. The intersection had 180 crashes, one fatality, and 33 injuries. Crashes fell 2.7%, but injuries jumped 26.9% from 2024.
- 3. Telegraph and 12 Mile roads in Southfield. The intersection had 121 crashes and 28 injuries. Crashes rose 14.1% from 106, and injuries increased 21.7% from 23 in 2024.
- 4. The roundabout at Orchard Lake and 14 Mile roads in Farmington Hills. The roundabout had 118 crashes and nine injuries in 2025. Crashes rose 8.2% from 109, and injuries increased from five in 2024.
- 5. The roundabout at Martin Parkway and North Pontiac Trail in Commerce Township. Oakland County’s largest roundabout had 107 crashes and nine injuries in 2025. Crashes fell 29.1% from 151 in 2024, while the number of injuries remained flat.
- 6. The roundabout at State Road and West Ellsworth Road in Ann Arbor. The roundabout had 93 crashes and five injuries. Crashes were up from 85 in 2024.
- 7. I-94 and 12 Mile Road in St. Clair Shores. The intersection had 86 total crashes and 21 injuries in 2025. That compares with 75 crashes and 11 injuries the previous year.
- 8. North Hamilton Street and Washtenaw Avenue in Ypsilanti. The intersection had 85 total crashes and eight injuries last year. The number of crashes dropped from 132 in 2024.
- 9. Schoolcraft and Telegraph roads in Redford Township. The intersection had 84 crashes and 18 Injuries in 2025, down from 137 crashes and 26 injuries in 2024.
- 10. Telegraph and Maple roads in Bloomfield Township. Michigan Auto Law said the intersection is new to the top 20 list. The intersection had 83 crashes and 47 injuries in 2025. Crashes jumped from 59, and injuries climbed from 22 in 2024.
- 11. The west roundabout at Lee and Whitmore Lake roads in Green Oak Township. The roundabout had 82 crashes and two injuries. Crashes rose from 80 and injuries fell from three in 2024.
- 12. Southfield Road and West 11 Mile in Lathrup Village. The intersection had 81 crashes and 23 injuries in 2025. Crashes in 2024 were up from 76, but injuries were down from 38.
- 13. U.S.-131 and Wealthy Street in Grand Rapids. The intersection had 78 crashes and 21 injuries last year. Crashes increased from 73, and injuries rose from 12 in 2024.
- 14. Hall Road and Schoenherr Road in Sterling Heights. The intersection had 78 crashes and 14 injuries in 2025. That compares with 76 crashes and 11 injuries in 2024.
- 15. Metropolitan Parkway and Van Dyke in Sterling Heights. The intersection had 77 crashes and 21 injuries last year. In 2024, it had 54 crashes and 16 injuries.
- 16. Burton Street SW and U.S.-131 in Grand Rapids. The intersection had 76 crashes and 11 injuries in 2025. Crashes rose from 64 and injuries fell from 17 the previous year.
- 17. Dix Avenue and M-39 in Lincoln Park. The intersection had 75 crashes and 23 injuries last year. In 2024, there were 68 crashes and 22 injuries.
- 18. I-96 and Milford Road in Lyon Township. The intersection had 70 crashes and six injuries in 2025. That compares with 29 crashes and five injuries in 2024.
- 19. Van Dyke and 23 Mile in Shelby Township. The intersection had 69 crashes and 14 injuries last year. In 2024, it had 43 crashes and 10 injuries.
- 20. Oakley Park Road and Martin Parkway in Commerce Township. The intersection had 69 crashes and one injury in 2025. The year before, it had the same number of crashes but five injuries.
In May, Michigan Auto Law released a study that said Kent County’s city of Walker was the state’s most dangerous city for car crashes and had the most vehicle crashes per capita.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Which intersection is the most dangerous in Michigan?
Reporting by Charles E. Ramirez, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
