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TABLE 1-1-1 - Transportation Fatalities by Mode: 1998-2008

TABLE 1-1-1 - Transportation Fatalities by Mode: 1998-2008

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  1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Air 671 683 764 1,166 616 699 637 603 773 540 564
U.S. air carrier 1 12 92 531 0 22 14 22 50 1 3
Commuter carrier 0 12 5 13 0 2 0 0 2 0 0
On-demand air taxi 45 38 71 60 35 42 64 18 16 43 66
General aviation 625 621 596 562 581 633 559 563 705 496 495
Highway 41,501 41,717 41,945 42,196 43,005 42,884 42,836 43,510 42,708 41,259 37,261
Passenger car occupants 21,194 20,862 20,699 20,320 20,569 19,725 19,192 18,512 17,925 16,614 14,587
Motorcyclists 2,294 2,483 2,897 3,197 3,270 3,714 4,028 4,576 4,837 5,174 5,290
Truck occupants, light 10,705 11,265 11,526 11,723 12,274 12,546 12,674 13,037 12,761 12,458 10,764
Truck occupants, large 742 759 754 708 689 726 766 804 805 805 677
Bus occupants 38 59 22 34 45 41 42 58 27 36 67
Pedestrians 5,228 4,939 4,763 4,901 4,851 4,774 4,675 4,892 4,795 4,699 4,378
Pedalcyclists 760 754 693 732 665 629 727 786 772 701 716
Other 540 596 591 581 642 729 732 845 786 772 782
Pipeline 21 22 38 7 11 12 23 13 21 15 8
Hazardous liquid pipeline 2 4 1 0 1 0 5 2 0 4 2
Gas pipeline 19 18 37 7 10 12 18 11 21 11 6
Railroad 1,008 932 937 971 951 865 891 884 903 845 798
Highway-rail grade crossing 431 402 425 421 357 334 371 359 369 337 289
Railroad (mostly trespassers) 577 530 512 550 594 531 520 525 534 512 514
Transit 286 299 295 267 280 234 248 236 227 288 U
Highway-rail grade crossing 26 21 20 13 24 21 29 23 21 27 U
Transit 260 278 275 254 256 213 219 213 206 261 U
Waterborne 1,033 928 888 828 863 833 822 835 839 811 827
Commercial vessel-related 69 58 53 53 59 69 86 78 73 67 51
Not related to vessel 149 136 134 94 54 61 60 60 56 59 67
Recreational boating 815 734 701 681 750 703 676 697 710 685 709

NOTES: The actual number of deaths for passengers on trains from 1998-2008 was: 1998 (4), 1999 (14), 2000 (4), 2001 (3), 2002 (7), 2003 (3), 2004 (3), 2005 (16), 2006 (2), 2007 (5), 2008 (24).

Caution is needed in comparing fatalities across modes because of different definitions. For example, rail and transit fatalities include incident-related (not just moving vehicle-related) fatalities, such as fatalities from falls in transit stations or railroad employee fatalities from a workshed fire, while fatalities at airports not caused by moving aircraft or fatalities from accidents in automobile repair shops are not counted.

SOURCES: Air: National Transportation Safety Board; Highway: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Pipeline: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Office of Pipeline Safety; Railroad: Federal Railroad Administration; Transit: Federal Transit Administration; Waterborne: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard as cited in U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, table 2-1, available at http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/ as of January 2010.