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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

Table 2-2: Injured Persons by Transportation Mode

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 2-2: Injured Persons by Transportation Mode

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001a 2002 2003
TOTAL injured persons U U U U U U U U U 3,147,539 (R) 3,223,343 3,345,095 3,539,343 3,554,232 3,417,822 (R) 3,262,276 (R) 3,305,611 (R) 3,259,613 3,100,052 2,958,841 U
Airb                                          
U.S. air carrierc N N 107 81 19 19 30 29 26 22 19 31 25 77 43 30 67 (R) 29 (R) 19 (R) 24 30
Commuter carrierd N N N N 14 14 14 11 31 7 2 6 17 2 1 2 2 7 4 0 1
On-demand air taxie N N N N 43 43 44 36 26 19 24 32 14 22 23 10 (R) 15 12 (R) 24 (R) 16 15
General aviationf N N 715 769 681 681 501 409 432 408 385 415 396 365 350 327 322 (R) 309 (R) 321 (R) 297 326
Highway, total N N N N N N N 3,230,666 3,096,870 3,069,603 3,149,164 3,265,928 3,465,279 3,483,319 3,347,614 3,192,035 3,236,238 3,188,750 3,032,672 2,925,758 2,888,601
Passenger car occupants N N N N N N N 2,376,439 2,234,594 2,231,703 2,264,809 2,363,595 2,469,358 2,458,080 2,340,612 2,201,375 2,137,503 2,051,609 1,926,625 1,804,788 1,756,495
Motorcyclists N N N N N N N 84,285 80,435 65,099 59,436 57,405 57,480 55,281 52,574 48,974 49,986 57,723 60,236 64,713 67,103
Truck occupantsg, light N N N N N N N 505,144 562,601 544,657 600,874 631,411 722,496 761,478 754,820 762,506 846,865 886,566 860,527 879,338 889,048
Truck occupantsg, large N N N N N N N 41,822 28,031 33,778 32,102 30,208 30,344 32,760 30,913 28,767 32,892 30,832 29,424 26,242 26,893
Bus occupants N N N N N N N 32,691 20,959 20,144 17,056 15,767 19,214 20,291 16,887 15,559 21,958 17,769 15,427 18,819 18,174
Pedestrians N N N N N N N 104,805 88,446 89,184 94,001 91,987 85,837 81,797 77,011 68,955 85,235 77,625 77,619 70,664 69,949
Pedalcyclists N N N N N N N 74,903 67,088 62,691 67,916 62,489 66,572 58,158 57,802 53,379 51,290 51,160 45,277 48,011 46,378
Otherh N N N N N N N 10,578 14,716 22,348 12,969 13,065 13,977 15,473 16,995 12,519 10,509 15,466 17,536 13,182 14,561
Railroadi                                          
Highway-rail grade crossing 3,367 3,725 3,272 3,860 3,550 3,550 2,687 2,407 2,094 1,975 1,837 1,961 1,894 1,610 1,540 1,303 1,396 1,219 1,157 999 1,002
Railroad 16,113 21,930 17,934 50,138 58,696 58,696 31,617 22,736 21,374 19,408 17,284 14,851 12,546 10,948 10,227 10,156 10,304 10,424 9,828 (R) 10,104 7,956
Transitj N N N N N N N 54,556 52,125 55,089 52,668 58,193 57,196 55,288 56,132 55,990 55,325 56,697 53,945 19,260 U
Waterborne, totalk N N U U U U U U U 5,334 5,173 5,976 6,119 5,992 5,713 5,288 4,954 5,052 4,980 (R) 4,784 U
Vessel-relatedl N N 105 97 180 180 172 175 110 162 166 174 145 223 121 135 131 130 181 (R) 168 (P) 205
Not related to vessel casualtiesl N N U U U U U U U 1,489 1,448 1,718 1,833 1,327 1,037 541 508 567 525 (R) 554 (P) 499
Recreational boating 929 927 780 2,136 2,650 2,650 2,757 3,822 3,967 3,683 3,559 4,084 4,141 4,442 4,555 4,612 4,315 4,355 4,274 4,062 3,888
Pipeline, total N N 254 231 192 192 126 76 98 118 111 1,971 64 127 77 81 108 81 61 49 71
Hazardous liquid pipeline N N 21 17 15 15 18 7 9 38 10 1,858 11 13 5 6 20 4 10 0 5
Gas pipeline N N 233 214 177 177 108 69 89 80 (R) 101 113 53 114 72 (R) 75 88 77 51 (R) 49 66

KEY: N = data do not exist; P = preliminary; R = revised; U = data are not available.

a Other than the persons aboard the aircraft who were killed, fatalities resulting from the September 11 terrorist acts are excluded.

b Injuries classified as serious. See definitions of injuries in the glossary.

c All scheduled and nonscheduled service operating under 14 CFR 121. Since March 20, 1997, 14 CFR 121 includes only aircraft with 10 or more seats formerly operated under 14 CFR 135. This change makes it difficult to compare pre-1997 data for 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135 with more recent years' data.

d All scheduled service operating under 14 CFR 135 (commuter air carriers). Before March 20, 1997, 14 CFR 135 applied to aircraft with 30 or fewer seats. Since March 20, 1997, 14 CFR 135 includes only aircraft with fewer than 10 seats. This change makes it difficult to compare pre-1997 data for 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135 with more recent years' data.

e Nonscheduled service operating under 14 CFR 135 (on-demand air taxis).

f All operations other than those operating under 14 CFR 121 and 14 CFR 135.

g Large trucks are defined as trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including single-unit trucks and truck tractors. Light trucks are defined as trucks of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating or less, including pickups, vans, truck-based station wagons, and utility vehicles.

h Includes occupants of other unknown vehicle types and other nonmotorists.

i Includes Amtrak. Figures include those injuries resulting from train accidents, train incidents, and nontrain incidents. Injury figures also include occupational illness. Railroad injuries data for 1970 and before are not comparable with post-1970 data due to change in reporting system. Highway-rail grade crossing injuries are counted under highway, except train occupants.

j Includes motor bus, commuter rail, heavy rail, light rail, demand response, van pool, and automated guideway. Transit injuries include those resulting from all reportable incidents, not just from accidents. Directly Operated (DO) modes only. The drop in the number of injuries in 2002 is due largely to a change in definitions by the Federal Transit Administration. Only injuries requiring immediate medical treatment away from the scene now qualify as reportable. Previously, any injury was reportable.

k Vessel-related injuries include those involving damage to vessels, such as collisions or groundings. Injuries not related to vessel casualties include those from falls overboard or from accidents involving onboard equipment.

l 1992-2001 data come from the Marine Safety Management Information System and 2002 data come from the Marine Information for Safety and Law Enforcement System. Data for prior years come from other sources and may not be directly comparable.

NOTES

The motor vehicle injury data in this table come from the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's General Estimates System (GES). The data from GES, which began operation in 1988, are obtained from a nationally representative probability sample selected from all police-reported crashes. The GES sample includes only crashes where a police accident report was completed and the crash resulted in property damage, injury, or death. The resulting figures do not take into account crashes that were not reported to the police or did not result in property damage.

Numbers may not add to total because some injuries are counted in more than one mode. To avoid double counting, the following adjustments have been made in the total injured row:

  • most (not all) highway-rail grade crossing injuries have not been added because most (not all) such injuries involve motor vehicles and are already included in highway injuries;
  • for transit, all commuter rail injuries and motor-bus, trolley-bus, demand-responsive, and van-pool injuries arising from accidents have been subtracted because they are counted as railroad, highway, or highway-rail grade crossing injuries.

The reader cannot reproduce the total injuries count in this table by simply leaving out the number of highway-rail grade crossing injuries in the sum and subtracting the above transit submodes, because in so doing, grade-crossing injuries not involving motor vehicles would be left out (see table 2-35 on rail). An example of such an injury is a bicyclist injured by a train at a grade crossing.

SOURCES

Air:

U.S. air carrier:

1970-94: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1995-2003: Ibid., Analysis and Data Division, personal communications, Aug. 8, 1996, Mar. 10, 1999, March 23, 2000, May 7, 2002, Sep. 11, 2002, May 5, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004.

Commuter carrier, and on-demand air taxi:

1980-94: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1995-2003: Ibid., Analysis and Data Division, personal communications, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, May 7, 2002, Sep. 11, 2002, May 5, 2003, and Sept. 30, 2004.

General aviation:

1970-94: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: General Aviation (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1995-2003: Ibid., Analysis and Data Division, personal communications, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, May 7, 2002, Sept. 11, 2002, May 5, 2003, Sept. 30, 2004.

Highway:

1990-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts 1999, DOT HS 809 100 (Washington, DC: December 2000), table 4.

2000-03: Ibid., General Estimates System Database and personal communication, Dec. 9, 2003 and Oct. 12, 2004.

Rail:

Highway-rail grade crossings:

1960-70: National Safety Council, Accident Facts, 1974 (Washington, DC: 1974).

1975: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Policy and Program Development, personal communication.

1980-91: Ibid., Rail-Highway Crossing Accident/Incident and Inventory Bulletin (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table S.

1991-1999: Ibid., Interim Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2002 (Washington, DC: August 2003), table 1-1.

2000-2003: Ibid., Internet site http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/Default.asp as of Sept. 10, 2004.

Railroad:

1960-70: National Safety Council, Accident Facts, 1974 (Washington, DC: 1974).

1970-91: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Highway-Rail Crossing Accident/Incident and Inventory Bulletin (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 7.

1991-1999: Ibid., Interim Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2002 (Washington, DC: August 2003), table 1-1.

2000-2003: Ibid., Internet site http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/Default.asp as of Sept. 10, 2004.

Transit:

1990-1992: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Safety Management Information Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues).

1993-2002: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Transit Safety and Security Statistics and Analysis Annual Report (Washington, DC: 2004), Internet site http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/data/SAMIS.asp as of Sept. 10, 2004.

Water:

Vessel- and nonvessel-related:

1970-91: U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Compliance Analysis Division, (G-MOA-2), personal communication, Apr. 13, 1999.

1992-2003: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division (G-MRI-1), personal communications, Dec. 12, 2001, May 28, 2003, and Oct. 13, 2004.

Recreational boating:

1960-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Boating Safety, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), also available at Internet site http://www.uscgboating.org as of Oct. 19, 2004.

Hazardous liquid and gas pipeline:

1970-1985: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Accident and Incident Summary Statistics by Year, Internet site http://ops.dot.gov as of Nov. 18, 2003.

1990-2003: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Accident and Incident Summary Statistics by Year, Internet site http://ops.dot.gov as of Sept. 13, 2004.