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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Highway Fatalities

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Excel

Quarterly data

Highway Fatalities

Improved safety is the foremost goal of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and highway fatalities accounted for 94% of all transportation fatalities in 2009. (BTS, National Transportation Statistics) Motor vehicle fatalities were the leading cause of death in persons age 15-29 in 2010, causing 21% of those deaths. (CDC) The trend of highway fatalities has been downward in recent years, and the number of deaths in 2011 was the lowest since 1949. (NHTSA)

Highway Fatalities 2011 Q4 2012 Q4
Number of Highway-Related Deaths 8,483 8,630
Percent change from same quarter previous year - 0.2% + 1.7%

NOTES: Total highway fatalities includes vehicles at rail crossings and transit vehicles operating over the road.

Data for the most recent year that does not have an annual FARS dataset (2012) are estimated by NHTSA and not final.

SOURCES: 1998-2011 — U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, available at http://www.nhtsa.gov/FARS, as of June 2013. 2012 — U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities in 2012," May 2013.