Abstract
Motor vehicle travel is the primary means of transportation in the USA, providing an unprecedented degree of mobility. Yet for all its advantages, deaths and injuries resulting from motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for persons of every age from 4 through 33 years old (based on 1998 data). Traffic fatalities account for more than 90% of transportation-related fatalities. In 2001, 42,116 people were killed in the estimated 6,323,000 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes, 3,033,000 people were injured, and 4,282,000 crashes involved property damage only. This overview fact sheet contains statistics on motor vehicle fatalities based on data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).