At least one person was killed overnight on the Lodge Freeway near 9 Mile Road in Southfield, after a crash around midnight shut down all southbound lanes for roughly six hours. A body was seen on the freeway, and as of Sunday night, the circumstances of the crash remained unclear.
According to Metro Detroit News, the Michigan State Police took charge of investigating the fatal crash late Sunday night. The outlet reported that at least one body was visible on the roadway as emergency crews worked the scene, though full details about what led to the deadly collision had not been released.
By Sunday morning, the freeway was back open. All southbound lanes of the Lodge Freeway near 9 Mile Road reopened following the six-hour closure caused by the fatal overnight crash, as reported by ClickOnDetroit. Exactly how many vehicles were involved, and who the victim was, remain open questions pending further word from investigators.
A Known Trouble Spot on One of Oakland County's Busiest Freeways
The stretch of M-10 around 9 Mile Road has a well-documented history of trouble. The on and off-ramps along the Lodge Freeway near 9 Mile Road are recognized local crash hotspots due to frequent congestion and hazardous merging conditions, according to Southfield personal injury firm Goodman Acker P.C. That congestion has only worsened in recent years, as the corridor remains one of the region's main links between southern Oakland County suburbs and downtown Detroit, per a Southeast Michigan Council of Governments transportation deployment plan.
The freeway has seen deadly crashes before. A wrong-way head-on collision on M-10 at Lahser Road in Southfield in September 2024 killed two people, according to the Lee Steinberg Law Firm. Southfield has consistently ranked among the most crash-prone municipalities in Oakland County, a pattern that predates Sunday's fatal wreck.
Detour Traffic From I-696 Construction Adds to the Strain
Part of the pressure on Southfield's roads traces back to a major ongoing freeway project elsewhere in the region. A multi-year closure of eastbound I-696 between Lahser Road and I-75 that began in 2025 has diverted thousands of suburban vehicles onto Southfield surface streets and the Lodge Freeway, according to the Kajy Law Firm, heightening congestion and crash risks on routes like M-10.
That added traffic comes as the state posts mixed results on highway safety. Michigan State Police crash data published in August 2026 showed total roadway fatalities across the state dropped 3 percent, from 1,099 in 2024 to 1,065 in 2025, even as total vehicle crashes ticked up 0.5 percent to 290,221. But not every category improved: pedestrian deaths in Michigan jumped 18 percent in 2025, to 184 fatalities, up from 156 the year before, according to CBS Detroit. Whether Sunday's victim was a vehicle occupant or a pedestrian has not been determined.
State Safety Push Aims to Cut Fatalities by 2030
The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning launched its “SAFER by 2030” initiative in December 2025, setting a statewide goal of reducing traffic fatalities by 30 percent by the end of the decade through coordinated enforcement and public safety campaigns. Sunday's fatal crash adds to a string of deadly incidents on and around Southfield's freeways and mile roads that Hoodline has tracked in recent months, including a fatal 8 Mile crash and a critical collision involving a wheelchair user on 11 Mile Road.
If investigators ultimately determine that reckless driving contributed to Sunday's crash, Michigan law allows for serious criminal consequences. Under state statute MCL 257.626, reckless driving causing death is classified as a felony carrying up to 15 years in prison and license revocation, provided prosecutors can show willful or wanton disregard for safety. No such determination has been made in this case, and the Michigan State Police investigation remains ongoing.
