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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 2-6: Hazardous Materials Fatalities, Injuries, Accidents, and Property Damage Data

Friday, October 21, 2016

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  1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (R) 2014 2015
Total fatalities 27 19 8 8 10 16 15 11 7 120 12 13 9 16 12 10 15 13 34 6 9 9 13 8 13 13 11 11 11
Accident-related 21 14 7 7 10 15 14 11 6 7 10 8 7 11 8 9 9 12 29 6 8 6 8 5 11 10 10 10 11
Air fatalitiesa 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 110 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Highway fatalities 27 17 8 8 10 16 15 11 7 8 12 13 9 16 9 9 15 10 24 6 9 6 12 8 12 13 11 11 11
Accident-related 21 12 7 7 10 15 14 11 6 5 10 8 7 11 8 8 9 9 19 6 8 6 7 5 11 10 10 10 11
Rail fatalities 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 3 10 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 10 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Waterb fatalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Otherc fatalities 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total injured persons 648 626 253 423 439 604 627 577 400 1,175 221 195 265 251 168 136 119 288 915 234 228 223 201 169 165 185 171 163 389
Accident-related 168 47 16 18 40 98 62 111 18 864 16 13 15 16 12 15 16 96 700 13 45 9 44 4 20 18 14 6 208
Air injured persons 5 8 4 39 31 23 50 57 33 33 24 20 12 5 13 4 1 11 44 2 8 7 10 2 7 20 12 15 20
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Highway injured persons 527 493 195 311 333 465 511 425 296 216 152 151 218 164 109 118 105 155 178 192 160 153 153 152 130 147 142 134 156
Accident-related 156 43 9 9 27 34 61 95 14 22 11 9 15 15 12 14 16 12 45 11 45 9 34 4 17 12 14 6 12
Rail injured personsd,e 99 121 53 73 75 116 66 95 71 926 45 22 35 82 46 14 13 122 693 25 57 63 38 13 20 18 15 14 213
Accident-related 12 4 7 9 13 64 1 16 4 842 5 4 0 1 0 1 0 84 655 2 0 0 10 0 3 6 0 0 196
Waterb injured persons 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 3 0 0 2 8 0 2 0 0
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Otherc injured persons 15 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total incidents 10,951 15,719 6,019 8,879 9,110 9,393 12,838 16,105 14,853 14,077 14,065 15,495 17,616 17,557 17,792 15,114 15,156 14,843 15,926 20,336 19,302 16,929 14,818 14,795 15,029 (R) 15,445 (R) 16,055 17,403 16,846
Accident-related 440 486 364 297 303 283 266 296 303 338 320 332 398 394 413 362 342 328 382 359 383 337 290 358 377 397 367 351 315
Air incidents 147 223 114 297 299 414 622 931 817 925 1,029 1,387 1,582 1,419 1,083 732 750 993 1,654 2,406 1,556 1,278 1,356 1,295 1,401 1,460 1,441 1,327 1,129
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 3 2 2 0 0 9 7 7 8 2 2 2 2 3 3 3
Highway incidents 10,063 14,161 4,752 7,296 7,644 7,843 11,095 14,011 12,869 12,034 11,929 13,108 14,953 15,063 15,804 13,502 13,594 13,068 13,460 17,159 16,932 14,803 12,730 12,648 12,812 (R) 13,254 (R) 13,884 15,312 15,111
Accident-related 330 347 302 249 249 245 217 244 253 294 267 277 331 329 357 319 300 281 323 308 322 302 251 320 335 (R) 362 333 330 277
Rail incidents 694 1,271 842 1,279 1,155 1,128 1,113 1,157 1,155 1,112 1,102 989 1,073 1,058 899 870 802 765 743 703 753 748 642 747 745 661 667 717 582
Accident-related 109 134 61 48 54 36 49 52 50 44 52 52 65 62 54 41 42 47 50 44 54 27 37 35 40 33 31 18 34
Waterb incidents 28 34 7 7 12 8 8 6 12 6 5 11 8 17 6 10 10 17 69 68 61 100 90 105 71 70 63 47 24
Accident-related 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Otherc incidents 19 30 304 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total property damage (current $ thousands)f 8,091 10,828 22,994 32,354 38,350 36,229 22,816 44,196 30,900 46,849 33,533 46,312 65,369 78,132 69,442 58,177 53,597 62,902 55,946 70,971 74,692 51,161 68,995 71,609 125,789 78,876 87,454 82,506 107,488
Accident-related 6,051 6,236 20,269 24,792 30,184 28,708 13,179 25,552 23,602 37,775 25,318 37,049 51,710 62,636 56,546 41,113 40,824 44,517 44,114 56,689 63,613 39,970 57,837 60,691 95,696 62,105 74,036 66,773 92,030
Air property damage 9 12 12 142 77 99 88 178 100 87 336 267 286 272 309 109 100 188 198 671 88 191 708 20 171 41 143 129 47
Accident-related 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 42 50 61 0 0 0 0 0 7 327 0 0 1 0 113 0
Highway property damage 5,584 7,324 12,690 20,190 29,650 24,130 19,866 25,253 22,141 29,257 24,741 28,669 34,359 51,030 47,737 48,076 49,109 47,158 40,179 59,502 47,280 42,890 50,629 63,672 113,103 60,190 49,513 59,602 61,252
Accident-related 3,694 3,782 10,175 14,132 23,953 18,350 11,263 13,539 16,342 22,315 17,871 21,597 23,085 37,837 36,404 33,529 37,650 34,322 31,052 47,467 38,456 34,383 42,383 55,981 86,150 47,014 39,053 46,376 47,861
Rail property damage 2,488 2,952 10,274 11,952 8,469 11,857 2,649 18,673 8,485 17,385 8,418 16,362 30,663 26,547 21,248 9,745 4,126 13,901 15,454 10,740 27,305 7,942 17,557 7,342 12,310 17,839 37,780 22,657 46,186
Accident-related 2,357 2,357 10,094 10,660 6,231 10,233 1,916 12,014 7,260 15,460 7,446 15,452 28,625 24,756 20,092 7,524 3,175 10,195 13,063 9,222 25,157 5,579 15,126 4,688 9,546 15,091 34,984 20,284 44,170
Waterb property damage 6 505 3 70 154 143 213 92 174 120 38 1,015 61 283 147 248 261 1,655 114 59 19 138 101 574 205 806 19 117 3
Accident-related 0 81 0 0 0 125 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0 0 0 0 0
Otherc property damage 4 35 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accident-related 0 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

KEY: R = revised.

a The 1996 spike in Air Fatalities was due to the ignition of an undeclared cache of chemical oxygen generators in a flight over Florida that killed 110 people, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Biennial Report on Hazardous Materials Transportation, 1996-1997.

b Water category includes only nonbulk marine. Bulk marine hazardous materials incidents are reported to the U.S. Coast Guard and are not included.

c Other category includes freight forwarders and modes not otherwise specified.

d The 1996 spike in Rail Injured Persons is due to a train derailment in Alberton, Montana, which caused 787 minor injuries from chlorine gas inhalation, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation Biennial Report on Hazardous Materials Transportation, 1996-1997. For more information, see http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Files/96_97biennial.rpt.pdf.

e The 2005 spike in Rail Injured Persons is due to a chlorine accident by a train operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. in Graniteville, South Carolina, on January 6, 2005. 9 people died and 631 people were injured. For more information, see the PHMSA Incident Report Database at https://hazmatonline.phmsa.dot.gov/IncidentReportsSearch/.

f Property damage under $30,000 is reported to the nearest $100. Property damage $30,000 or greater is reported to the nearest $1,000; therefore the components may not add to the totals. Different cost thresholds for reporting property damage exist by property type. See NTS table 2-8 for the various thresholds.

NOTES

Hazardous materials transportation incidents required to be reported are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 49 CFR 171.15, 171.16 (Form F 5800.1). Hazardous materials deaths and injuries are caused by the hazardous material in commerce.

SOURCES

1975-85: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Hazardous Materials Safety, Hazardous Materials Information System Database, 1999.

1990-2001: Ibid., Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Hazardous Material Safety, available at http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/hazmat/library/data-stats/incidents as of Dec. 20, 2011.

2002-2015: Ibid., Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Hazardous Material Safety, 10 Year Incident Summary Reports, available at https://hip.phmsa.dot.gov/analyticsSOAP/saw.dll?Dashboard as of July 18, 2016.