One man killed, two injured in Mayfield Township crash on M-37

A routine late-afternoon drive on M-37 turned fatal in Mayfield Township when a three-vehicle crash left one man dead and two others hurt at the busy M-37 and M-113 corridor in Grand Traverse County.

Michigan State Police said troopers responded at about 5:07 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, to the intersection near Miller Road and advised drivers to avoid the area while they investigated. The crash happened in Mayfield Township, where M-37 carries steady traffic through the southern edge of the county and connects with M-113.

According to police, a Chevrolet Impala carrying two people was traveling east on Miller Road and tried to cross M-37 to reach M-113. The Impala was struck by a northbound pickup truck. After that first impact, both vehicles were pushed into a third vehicle, a Jeep that was stopped on M-113.

A 44-year-old Cadillac man died in the crash. Police identified the pickup driver as a 59-year-old Traverse City man, who was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The Jeep driver, a 33-year-old Traverse City woman, was not injured and her vehicle sustained minor damage.

Troopers from the Michigan State Police Traverse City Post are handling the case, and the investigation remained ongoing. The crash drew attention to a stretch of highway where drivers regularly move between county roads, state routes and local traffic at a high-volume intersection.

Michigan State Police said its traffic crash reporting unit processes about 315,000 crashes a year, and the data is used by federal, state and local traffic safety partners to identify problem spots and help reduce crashes, fatalities and injuries. That work now includes the Mayfield Township collision, where investigators will be looking closely at how a crossing maneuver on Miller Road ended in a deadly chain reaction on M-37.