In 2010, 32,885 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in the United States–the lowest number of fatalities since 1949 (30,246 fatalities in 1949). This was a 2.9-percent decline in the number of people killed, from 33,883 in 2009, according to NHTSA’s 2010 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). In 2010, an estimated 2.24 million people were injured in motor vehicle traffic crashes, compared to 2.22 million in 2009 according to NHTSA’s National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) General Estimates System (GES). This slight increase (1.0% increase) in the estimated number of people injured is not statistically significant from the number of people injured in crashes in 2009. (Author/publisher) This research note, previously released in December 2011, has been revised to reflect slight changes in the GES estimates. Coding errors were found in the data file shortly after the original postings. Those errors have been corrected and are reflected in this revised research note.
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