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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 2-4: Distribution of Transportation Fatalities by Mode

Friday, February 3, 2017

Excel | CSV

  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (R) 2014 (P) 2015
Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent
TOTAL fatalities 43,975 100.0 44,276 100.0 44,873 100.0 45,292 100 45,121 100.0 45,028 100.0 (R) 45,641 100.0 (R) 45,061 100.0 (R) 43,347 100.0 39,542 100.0 35,978 100.0 (R) 35,036 100.0 (R) 34,570 100.0 35,696 100.0 34,685 100.0 34,641 100.0 36,982 100.0
Passenger car occupants 20,862 47.4 20,699 46.7 20,320 45.3 20,569 45.4 19,725 43.7 19,192 42.6 18,512 40.6 17,925 39.8 16,614 38.3 14,646 37.0 13,135 36.5 12,491 35.7 12,014 34.8 12,361 34.6 12,037 34.7 11,947 34.5 12,628 34.1
Truck occupantsa, light 11,265 25.6 11,526 26.0 11,723 26.1 12,274 27.1 12,546 27.8 12,674 28.1 13,037 28.6 12,761 28.3 12,458 28.7 10,816 27.4 10,312 28.7 9,782 27.9 9,302 26.9 9,418 26.4 9,187 26.5 9,103 26.3 9,813 26.5
Pedestrians 4,939 11.2 4,763 10.8 4,901 10.9 4,851 10.7 4,774 10.6 4,675 10.4 4,892 10.7 4,795 10.6 4,699 10.8 4,414 11.2 4,109 11.4 4,302 12.3 4,457 12.9 4,818 13.5 4,779 13.8 4,910 14.2 5,376 14.5
Motorcyclists 2,483 5.6 2,897 6.5 3,197 7.1 3,270 7.2 3,714 8.2 4,028 8.9 4,576 10.0 4,837 10.7 5,174 11.9 5,312 13.4 4,469 12.4 4,518 12.9 4,630 13.4 4,986 14.0 4,692 13.5 4,594 13.3 4,976 13.5
Pedalcyclists 754 1.7 693 1.6 732 1.6 665 1.5 629 1.4 727 1.6 786 1.7 772 1.7 701 1.6 718 1.8 628 1.7 623 1.8 682 2.0 734 2.1 749 2.2 729 2.1 818 2.2
Highway, other incidentb 596 1.4 591 1.3 581 1.3 642 1.4 729 1.6 732 1.6 845 1.9 786 1.7 772 1.8 768 1.9 705 2.0 709 2.0 699 2.0 729 2.0 701 2.0 761 2.2 765 2.1
Truck occupantsa, large 759 1.7 754 1.7 708 1.6 689 1.5 726 1.6 766 1.7 804 1.8 805 1.8 805 1.9 682 1.7 499 1.4 530 1.5 640 1.9 697 2.0 695 2.0 656 1.9 667 1.8
Recreational boatingc 734 1.7 701 1.6 681 1.5 750 1.7 703 1.6 676 1.5 697 1.5 710 1.6 685 1.6 709 1.8 736 2.0 672 1.9 758 2.2 651 1.8 560 1.6 610 1.8 626 1.7
Railroad, trespassers 479 1.1 463 1.0 511 1.1 540 1.2 498 1.1 472 1.0 458 1.0 511 1.1 470 1.1 457 1.2 416 1.2 441 1.3 400 1.2 410 1.1 425 1.2 470 1.4 459 1.2
General aviationd 621 1.4 596 1.3 562 1.3 581 1.3 633 1.4 559 1.2 563 1.2 706 1.6 496 1.1 496 1.3 479 1.3 458 1.3 (R) 458 1.3 (R) 438 1.2 391 1.1 424 1.2 376 1.0
Highway-rail grade crossing 402 0.9 425 1.0 421 0.9 357 0.8 334 0.7 371 0.8 359 0.8 369 0.8 339 0.8 290 0.7 248 0.7 261 0.7 246 0.7 231 0.6 232 0.7 262 0.8 235 0.6
Transit, other incident N N/A N N/A N N/A 130 0.3 143 0.3 136 0.3 94 0.2 133 0.3 153 0.4 134 0.3 167 0.5 166 0.5 189 0.5 192 0.5 196 0.6 174 0.5 220 0.6
Rail, other incidentsf 42 0.1 39 0.1 33 0.1 39 0.1 29 0.1 35 0.1 34 0.1 17 0.0 33 0.1 30 0.1 27 0.1 25 0.1 30 0.1 24 0.1 32 0.1 31 0.1 52 0.1
Bus occupants 59 0.1 22 0.0 34 0.1 45 0.1 41 0.1 42 0.1 58 0.1 27 0.1 36 0.1 67 0.2 26 0.1 44 0.1 55 0.2 39 0.1 54 0.2 44 0.1 49 0.1
Water, freightj N N/A N N/A N N/A 48 0.1 39 0.1 37 0.1 33 0.1 37 0.1 42 0.1 34 0.1 30 0.1 22 0.1 18 0.1 14 0.0 19 0.1 18 0.1 40 0.1
Transit passenger/occupant N N/A N N/A N N/A 47 0.1 51 0.1 33 0.1 48 0.1 20 0.0 26 0.1 30 0.1 48 0.1 49 0.1 36 0.1 67 0.2 60 0.2 58 0.2 30 0.1
On-demand air taxig 38 0.1 71 0.2 60 0.1 35 0.1 42 0.1 64 0.1 18 0.0 16 0.0 43 0.1 69 0.2 17 0.0 17 0.0 41 0.1 12 0.0 25 0.1 20 0.1 27 0.1
Water, passengere N N/A 15 0.0 0 0.0 48 0.1 52 0.1 55 0.1 52 0.1 91 0.2 79 0.2 65 0.2 62 0.2 87 0.2 96 0.3 84 0.2 26 0.1 14 0.0 14 0.0
Railroad, train accidents 9 0.0 10 0.0 6 0.0 15 0.0 4 0.0 13 0.0 33 0.1 6 0.0 9 0.0 27 0.1 4 0.0 8 0.0 6 0.0 9 0.0 11 0.0 5 0.0 13 0.0
Water, industrial/otherh N N/A N N/A N N/A 44 0.1 50 0.1 47 0.1 47 0.1 45 0.1 36 0.1 46 0.1 37 0.1 40 0.1 32 0.1 16 0.0 45 0.1 32 0.1 12 0.0
Gas pipeline 18 0.0 37 0.1 7 0.0 11 0.0 12 0.0 18 0.0 (R) 14 0.0 (R) 19 0.0 (R) 12 0.0 6 0.0 9 0.0 (R) 18 0.1 (R) 11 0.0 (R) 7 0.0 (R) 7 0.0 19 0.1 9 0.0
Train, employee/worker N N/A N N/A N N/A 5 0.0 8 0.0 8 0.0 7 0.0 9 0.0 9 0.0 8 0.0 11 0.0 6 0.0 3 0.0 5 0.0 10 0.0 4 0.0 4 0.0
Commuter carrierk 12 0.0 5 0.0 13 0.0 0 0.0 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 5 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.0
Hazardous liquid pipeline 4 0.0 1 0.0 0.0 0.0 1 0.0 0 0.0 5 0.0 2 0.0 0 0.0 4 0.0 2 0.0 4 0.0 1 0.0 1 0.0 3 0.0 1 0.0 0 0.0 1 0.0
U.S. air carrieri 12 0.0 92 0.2 531 1.2 0 0.0 22 0.0 14 0.0 22 0.0 50 0.1 1 0.0 3 0.0 52 0.1 2 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 9 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0
Other counts, redundant with above                                                                    
Rail, freight 745 1.7 717 1.6 729 1.6 725 1.6 683 1.5 690 1.5 682 1.5 723 1.6 635 1.5 575 1.5 481 1.3 520 1.5 493 1.4 476 1.3 505 1.5 553 1.6 503 1.4
Rail, passenger 188 0.4 220 0.5 242 0.5 226 0.5 182 0.4 201 0.4 202 0.4 180 0.4 216 0.5 229 0.6 214 0.6 215 0.6 189 0.5 199 0.6 195 0.6 216 0.6 250 0.7
Transit, rail 196 0.4 197 0.4 167 0.4 89 0.2 66 0.1 (R) 81 0.2 (R) 54 0.1 41 0.1 (R) 65 0.1 (R) 84 0.2 (R) 134 0.4 (R) 120 0.3 (R) 132 0.4 150 0.4 (R) 144 0.4 135 0.4 151 0.4
Railroad, killed at public crossing with motor vehicle 309 0.7 306 0.7 315 0.7 271 0.6 249 0.6 256 0.6 258 0.6 267 0.6 227 0.5 199 0.5 161 0.4 136 0.4 138 0.4 135 0.4 141 0.4 143 0.4 126 0.3
Transit, non-rail 103 0.2 98 0.2 100 0.2 93 0.2 136 0.3 95 0.2 92 0.2 121 0.3 122 0.3 88 0.2 91 0.3 100 0.3 96 0.3 (R) 114 0.3 (R) 122 0.4 101 0.3 103 0.3
Water, Vessel-related 58 0.1 53 0.1 53 0.1 29 0.1 44 0.1 65 0.1 46 0.1 45 0.1 31 0.1 31 0.1 34 0.1 37 0.1 27 0.1 25 0.1 16 0.0 14 0.0 40 0.1
Water, Not related to vessel casualties 136 0.3 134 0.3 94 0.2 64 0.1 76 0.2 69 0.2 67 0.1 70 0.2 65 0.1 82 0.2 72 0.2 58 0.2 43 0.1 60 0.2 74 0.2 50 0.1 26 0.1

KEY: N = data do not exist; N/A = not applicable; P = preliminary; R = revised.

aLight 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. Large trucks are defined as trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including single-unit trucks and truck tractors.

b Includes occupants of other vehicle types, other nonmotorists, and unknown. For 1960-70, the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not break out fatality data to the same level of detail as in later years, so fatalities for those years also include occupants of passenger cars, trucks, and buses.

c Recreational includes airboats, canoes, kayaks, motorboats, pontoon, rowboats, and sailboats. Data are based on information provided by the States, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. Territories to the Coast Guard Boating Accident Report Database (BARD) system, which is subject to some under- or delayed reporting.

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

e Passenger includes passenger ships, research ships, and schools ships and include only closed cases where vessels were involved in a marine casualty as of April 6, 2015. Open cases by fiscal year not included above: CY 2002 = 0, CY 2003 = 5, CY 2004 = 5, CY 2005 = 8, CY 2006 = 4, CY 2007 = 7, CY 2008 = 19, CY 2009 = 38, CY 2010 = 36, CY 2011 = 120, CY 2012 = 644, CY 2013 = 727, and CY 2014 = 742.

f Other incidents are events other than Train Accidents or Crossing Incidents that cause physical harm to persons.

g Nonscheduled service operating under 14 CFR 135 (On-demand air taxis).

hIndustrial/other includes fishing vessels, miscellaneous vessels, and offshore include only closed cases where vessels were involved in a marine casualty as of April 6, 2015. Open cases by fiscal year not included above: CY 2002 = 0, CY 2003 = 5, CY 2004 = 5, CY 2005 = 8, CY 2006 = 4, CY 2007 = 7, CY 2008 = 19, CY 2009 = 38, CY 2010 = 36, CY 2011 = 120, CY 2012 = 644, CY 2013 = 727, and CY 2014 = 742.

i All service operating under 14 CFR 121 (Scheduled air carriers). Since Mar. 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.

jFreight includes barges, bulk carriers, general dry cargo ships, refrigerated cargo ships, roll-on/roll-off ships, tank ships, and towing ships and include only closed cases where vessels were involved in a marine casualty as of April 6, 2015. Open cases by fiscal year not included above: CY 2002 = 0, CY 2003 = 5, CY 2004 = 5, CY 2005 = 8, CY 2006 = 4, CY 2007 = 7, CY 2008 = 19, CY 2009 = 38, CY 2010 = 36, CY 2011 = 120, CY 2012 = 644, CY 2013 = 727, and CY 2014 = 742.

k All scheduled service operating under 14 CFR 135 (Commuter air carriers). Before Mar. 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.

NOTES

To reduce double counting, the following adjustments are made to Total Fatalities: For Railroad, fatalities involving motor vehicles at public highway-rail grade crossings are excluded because such fatalities are assumed to be included in Highway fatalities. For Transit, non-rail modes, including aerial tramway, motor bus, bus rapid transit, commuter bus, demand response, demand taxi, ferryboat, jitney, publico, trolleybus, and vanpool fatalities are excluded because they are counted as Water and Highway fatalities. Other counts, redundant with above help eliminate double counting in the Total Fatalities.

Highway fatalities data prior to 1975 have been adjusted to reflect the Fatality Analysis Reporting System's definition of a fatal crash as one that involves a motor vehicle on a traffic way that results in the death of a vehicle occupant or a nonmotorist within 30 days of the crash.

Water injury data for 2001 and before is not comparable with later year due to a change in the reporting system.

Current version of this table is not comparable with the versions before 2014 because of the categories changing for some modes.

SOURCES

Air:

U.S. Air Carrier:

1960: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1967 (Washington, DC: December 1968).

1965-70: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1975, NTSB/ARC-77/1 (Washington, DC: January 1977).

1975: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1983, NTSB/ARC-87/01 (Washington, DC: February 1987), table 18.

1980: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1981, NTSB/ARC-85/01 (Washington, DC: February 1985), tables 2 and 16.

1985-2015: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 5, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/pages/aviation_stats.aspx as of October 2016.

Commuter:

1975-80: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1980, NTSB/ARC-83/01 (Washington, DC: January 1983), tables 26 and 40.

1985-2015: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 8, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/pages/aviation_stats.aspx as of October 2016.

On-demand air taxi:

1975-80: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. Air Carrier Operations, Calendar Year 1981, NTSB/ARC-85/01 (Washington, DC: February 1985), table 61.

1985-2015: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 9, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/pages/aviation_stats.aspx as of October 2016.

General aviation:

1960-70: National Transportation Safety Board, Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: U.S. General Aviation, Calendar Year 1970, NTSB/ARG-74/1 (Washington, DC: April 1974), table 117.

1975-80: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data: General Aviation, Calendar Year 1985, NTSB/ARG-87/03 (Washington, DC: October 1987), table 21.

1985-2015: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 10, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/data/pages/aviation_stats.aspx as of October 2016.

Highway:

1960-65: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration from data supplied by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, and individual state accident reports (adjusted to 30-day deaths).

1970-2014: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts (Annual Editions), Table 4, available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/cats/index.aspx as of May 2016.

2015: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2015 Motor Vehicle Crashes: Overview, Table 3 as of August 2016.

Rail:

Highway-rail grade crossing:

1975-13: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, table 5.11, Hwy/Rail Incidents Summary Tables, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of July 2015.

2014-2015: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, table 5.14, Hwy Rail Accident Incident Summary By Railroad, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of October 2016.

Railroad:

1960-65: National Safety Council, Accident Facts, 1974 (Washington, DC: 1974).

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

1975-2015: Ibid., U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, table 1.12, 1.13, 2.07, and 5.14 , available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of October 2016.

Transit:

1990-01: U.S. Department of Transportation, Volpe Center, Transit Safety and Security Statistics, available at http://transit-safety.volpe.dot.gov/data/samis.aspx as of March 2015.

2002-2015: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, personal communication, Jun. 20, 2016.

Water:

Passenger, Freight, Industrial/Other:

2002-2015: U.S Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Investigations and Analysis, Compliance Analysis Division, personal communication, Nov. 20, 2012 and Nov. 12, 2013, Aug. 31, 2015 and May 2016.

Recreational:

1960-02: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Office of Boating Safety, Boating Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 31, available at http://www.uscgboating.org as of June 2014.

2003-2015: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Recreational Boating Statistics (annual issues), available at www.uscgboating.org as of May 2016.

Pipeline:

Hazardous liquid and gas pipeline:

1970-85: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Accident and Incident Summary Statistics by Year, available at http://ops.dot.gov as of Nov. 18, 2003.

1990-2015: U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety, Accident and Incident Summary Statistics by Year, available at http://phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline as of October 2016.