Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Research Note
December 2014
tuation in recent years, experienced a slight (and not statistically significant) decrease. In 2013, there was a decrease of
49,000 people injured in motor vehicle crashes over 2012.
While motor vehicle crash fatalities decreased by 3.1 percent
overall, the number of people who died in alcohol-impaireddriving crashes decreased by 2.5 percent. In 2013, 10,076
people lost their lives in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes.
Overall Statistics
In 2013, 32,719 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in
the United States, a 3.1-percent decrease from the 33,782 fatalities in 2012 (Figure 1). This decline shows a continuation in
the general decline in fatalities that started in 2006, except for
the increase in 2012, according to NHTSAs Fatality Analysis
Reporting System (FARS). In 2013, an estimated 2.31 million
people were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes, compared to 2.36 million in 2012 according to NHTSAs National
Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates
System (GES), a decrease of 2.1 percent. The change in the
number of injured people from 2012 to 2013 is not statistically significant (Figure 2).
Figure 1
Fatalities and Fatality Rate per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled by Year
5.39
60,000
6.00
5.00
40,000
32,719
45,645
4.00
30,000
3.00
20,000
2.00
10,000
1.10
0.00
70
19
72
19
74
19
76
19
78
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
20
06
20
08
20
1
20 0
1
20 2
13
68
1.00
19
66
19
19
19
64
Fatality Rate
Fatalities
50,000
Fatalities
Source: 19641974: National Center for Health Statistics, HEW, and State Accident Summaries (Adjusted to 30-Day Traffic Deaths by NHTSA);
FARS 19752012 (Final), 2013 Annual Report File (ARF); Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): Federal Highway Administration.
2
Figure 2
People Injured and Injury Rate per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled by Year
4,000,000
157
3,000,000
2,313,000
3,284,000
2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000
78
1,000,000
500,000
12
20
13
11
20
10
20
09
20
08
20
07
20
06
20
05
20
04
20
03
20
02
20
01
20
00
People Injured
20
99
20
98
19
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
19
92
19
91
19
90
19
19
19
89
Injury Rate
People Injured
3,500,000
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Source: NASS GES 19892013; Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT): Federal Highway Administration.
The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
decreased 3.5 percent from 1.14 in 2012 to 1.10 in 2013 (Table 1).
This fatality rate ties that from 2011 as the lowest fatality rate
on record. The overall injury rate also decreased in 2013 by
2.5 percent from 2012. The 2013 rates are based on VMT estimates from the Federal Highway Administrations (FHWA)
September 2014 Traffic Volume Trends (TVT). Overall, 2013
VMT decreased by 0.1 percent from 2012 VMTfrom 2,969 billion to 2,966 billion. VMT data will be updated when FHWA
releases the 2013 Annual Highway Statistics.
Table 1
2012
2013
Change
% Change
1.14
1.10
-0.04
-3.5%
80
78
-2
-2.5%
Table 2
2012
33,782
2013
32,719
Change
-1,063
Passenger Vehicles
Passenger Cars
Light Trucks
Large Trucks
Motorcycles
21,779
12,361
9,418
697
4,986
21,132
11,977
9,155
691
4,668
-647
-384
-263
-6
-318
4,818
734
227
4,735
743
190
-83
+9
-37
Pedestrians
Pedalcyclists
Other/Unknown
% Change
-3.1%
Occupants
-3.0%
-3.1%
-2.8%
-0.9%
-6.4%
Nonoccupants
-1.7%
+1.2%
2012
2,362,000
Injured
2013
Change
2,313,000
-49,000
2,091,000
1,328,000
762,000
25,000
93,000
2,046,000
1,296,000
750,000
24,000
88,000
-45,000
-32,000
-12,000
-1,000
-5,000
-2.2%
-2.4%
-1.6%
-4.0%
-5.4%
76,000
49,000
10,000
66,000
48,000
11,000
-10,000
-1,000
+1,000
-13%
-2.0%
% Change
-2.1%
Source: FatalitiesFARS 2012 (Final), 2013 (ARF), InjuredNASS GES 2012, 2013 Annual Files
*Total includes occupants of buses and other/unknown occupants not shown in table.
2013
13%
9%
17%
45%
3%
30%
Crash Type
The number of motor vehicle crashes, by crash type and severity, is presented in Table 4. The total number of police-reported
traffic crashes increased by 1.3 percent from 2012 to 2013. This
increase is driven by the 2.9-percent increase in property-
damage-only crashesor crashes in which there were no
injuries to occupants or nonoccupants during the crash. The
number of fatal crashes and injury crashes both fell from 2012
to 2013.
Table 4
37%
14%
4%
Table 3
28%
2012
31,006
2013
30,057
Change % Change
-949
-3.1%
Non-Fatal Crashes
5,584,000 5,657,000
+73,000
+1.3%
Injury Crashes
1,634,000 1,591,000
-43,000
-2.6%
+2.9%
Total Crashes
5,615,000 5,687,000
+72,000
+1.3%
Source: FARS 2012 (Final), 2013 (ARF), NASS GES 2012, 2013
4
Table 5
Passenger Vehicle Occupants in Fatal Crashes, by Restraint Use, Survival Status, and Time of Day
Killed
2012
#
2013
%
Total
21,779
Restraint Used
Restraint Not Used
Day
Restraint Used
Restraint Not Used
Night
Restraint Used
Restraint Not Used
10,552
11,227
11,057
6,280
4,777
10,541
4,174
6,367
Survived
Change
-647
-3.0%
35,655
+122
-769
-263
+160
-423
-353
-8
-345
+1.2%
-6.8%
-2.4%
+2.5%
-8.9%
-3.3%
-0.2%
-5.4%
29,680
5,975
18,212
15,733
2,479
17,382
13,875
3,507
21,132
48%
52%
51%
57%
43%
48%
40%
60%
10,674
10,458
10,794
6,440
4,354
10,188
4,166
6,022
2012
%
Change
51%
49%
51%
60%
40%
48%
41%
59%
2013
%
34,051
83%
17%
51%
86%
14%
49%
80%
20%
28,721
5,330
17,612
15,390
2,222
16,396
13,270
3,126
84%
16%
52%
87%
13%
48%
81%
19%
Change
%
Change
-1,604
-4.5%
-959
-645
-600
-343
-257
-986
-605
-381
-3.2%
-11%
-3.3%
-2.2%
-10%
-5.7%
-4.4%
-11%
2012
697
423
274
2,857
390
3,944
2013
691
427
264
2,834
439
3,964
Change
-6
+4
-10
-23
+49
+20
% Change
-0.9%
+0.9%
-3.6%
-0.8 %
+13%
+0.5%
Crash Location
Fatalities in rural crashes decreased by 3.7 percent (Table 7),
while those in urban crashes decreased by 2.5 percent. People
killed in roadway departure crashes decreased by 3.7 percent,
and intersection crashes decreased by 2.9 percent. Following
are the definitions used for roadway-departure and intersection crashes as defined by FHWA.
Roadway Departure Crash: A crash in which a vehicle crosses
an edge line, a center line, or leaves the traveled way. Types of
crashes fitting the definition include fatal crashes in which the
first event for at least one of the involved vehicles ran-off-road
(right or left), crossed the centerline or median, went airborne,
or hit a fixed object.
Intersection: Includes intersection and intersection-related
crashes as well as driveway and alley access or related crashes.
Table 7
2012
2013
Change
33,782
32,719
-1,063
Roadway Function Class
18,367
17,696
-671
15,371
14,987
-384
Roadway Departure
18,963
18,257
-706
Relation to Junction
8,851
8,598
-253
% Change
-3.1%
-3.7%
-2.5%
-3.7%
-2.9%
Additional Facts
There was a large decrease in motorcyclist fatalities for the
ities in States without universal helmet laws (1,704 unhelmeted fatalities) as in States with universal helmet laws (150
unhelmeted fatalities) in 2013.
Twenty-four percent of alcohol-impaired drivers in fatal
crashes in 2013 had a previous license suspension or revocation (within just the last three years, for alcohol-related and
non-alcohol-related offenses).
The decrease in the number of young drivers involved in
NHTSAs Fatality Analysis Reporting System is a census of all crashes of motor vehicles traveling on public
roadways in which a person died within 30 days of the
crash. Data for the NASS GES comes from a nationally
representative sample of police-reported motor vehicle
crashes of all types, from property-damage-only to fatal.
The information in this Research Note represents only
major findings from the 2013 FARS and NASS GES files.
Additional information and details will be available at a
later date. Internet users may access this Research Note
and other general information on traffic safety at: wwwnrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/CATS/index.aspx
NHTSAs National Center for Statistics and Analysis
6
Table 8
State
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Dist of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
National
Puerto Rico
2012
2013
Alcohol-Impaired-Driving
Alcohol-Impaired-Driving
Fatalities
Fatalities
Total
Total
Fatalities
#
%
Fatalities
#
%
865
240
28%
852
260
31%
59
15
25%
51
15
30%
821
230
28%
849
219
26%
560
144
26%
483
123
25%
2,966
829
28%
3,000
867
29%
474
134
28%
481
142
30%
264
100
38%
276
114
41%
114
35
31%
99
38
39%
15
3
21%
20
6
31%
2,431
709
29%
2,407
676
28%
1,192
295
25%
1,179
297
25%
125
47
38%
102
33
33%
184
52
28%
214
58
27%
956
322
34%
991
322
32%
781
230
30%
783
198
25%
365
96
26%
317
103
32%
405
104
26%
350
102
29%
746
169
23%
638
167
26%
723
235
32%
703
234
33%
164
50
30%
145
42
29%
511
163
32%
465
141
30%
383
129
34%
326
118
36%
940
261
28%
947
255
27%
395
114
29%
387
95
25%
582
191
33%
613
210
34%
826
283
34%
757
248
33%
205
89
43%
229
92
40%
212
73
34%
211
60
28%
261
85
33%
262
79
30%
108
32
30%
135
46
34%
589
164
28%
542
146
27%
366
97
26%
310
93
30%
1,180
340
29%
1,199
364
30%
1,299
372
29%
1,289
371
29%
170
72
43%
148
62
42%
1,121
389
35%
989
271
27%
709
209
30%
678
170
25%
337
88
26%
313
105
33%
1,310
407
31%
1,208
368
30%
64
28
44%
65
24
38%
863
348
40%
767
335
44%
133
44
33%
135
41
31%
1,015
286
28%
995
277
28%
3,408
1,290
38%
3,382
1,337
40%
217
32
15%
220
38
17%
77
24
31%
69
18
27%
776
209
27%
740
254
34%
438
143
33%
436
149
34%
339
94
28%
332
91
27%
615
202
33%
543
178
33%
123
41
33%
87
25
29%
33,782
10,336
31%
32,719
10,076
31%
366
101
28%
344
127
37%