MOTOR VEHICLE-RELATED HIGHWAY FATALITIES
MOTOR VEHICLE-RELATED HIGHWAY FATALITIES
Fatalities of Highway Vehicle Occupants, Pedestrians, and Bicyclists (annual data)
Highway crashes caused 94 percent of all transportation-related fatalities in 2000. They were the leading cause of death of people ages 5 through 29 (DOT Performance Report for FY 2000 and Performance Plan FY 2001).
NOTES: Large trucks - trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including single unit trucks and truck tractors.
Light trucks - trucks of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating or less, including pickups, vans, truck-based station wagons, and utility vehicles. The number of light trucks has increased greatly since 1990, affecting light truck occupant fatality numbers.
See U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 1999, pp. 273-280, for detailed discussion of modal fatality data.
| Fatalities by Type | 1999 | 2000* |
|---|---|---|
| Highway total | 41,611 | 41,800 |
| Highway total percent change from previous year | 0.27 | 0.45 |
| Passenger car occupants | 20,818 | 20,455 |
| Passenger car occupants percent change from previous year | -1.77 | -1.74 |
| Light-truck occupants | 11,243 | 11,439 |
| Light-truck occupants percent change from previous year | 5.03 | 1.74 |
| Pedestrians | 4,906 | 4,727 |
| Pedestrians percent change from previous year | -6.16 | -3.65 |
| Motorcyclists | 2,472 | 2,680 |
| Motorcyclists percent change from previous year | 8.23 | 8.41 |
| Large-truck occupants | 758 | 746 |
| Large-truck occupants percent change from previous year | 2.16 | -1.58 |
| Bicyclists | 750 | 738 |
| Bicyclists percent change from previous year | -1.32 | -1.60 |
| Other highway** | 540 | 606 |
| Other highway** percent change from previous year | -5.76 | 12.22 |
** Data are for 1998 and 1999.
SOURCES: Data compiled from various government agencies as cited in the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), Performance Report FY 2000and Performance Plan FY 2002, April 2001, available at: http://www.bts.gov/ntda/nts/nts.html.