Motor vehicle travel is the primary means of transportation in the United States, 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 people of every age from 2 through 34 (based on 2004 data). Traffic fatalities accounted for more than 90 percent of transportation-related fatalities. The mission of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes. Fortunately, much progress has been made in reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on our Nation’s highways. In 2006, the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel (VMT) was 1.42. The 1996 rate was 1.69 per 100 million VMT. An 81-percent seat belt use rate nationwide and a reduction in the rate of alcohol involvement in fatal crashes — to 41 percent in 2006 from 42 percent in 1996 — were significant contributions to maintaining this consistently low fatality rate. However, much remains to be done. The economic cost alone of motor vehicle crashes in 2000 was $230.6 billion. In 2006, 42,642 people were killed in the estimated 5,973,000 police-reported motor vehicle traffic crashes, 2,575,000 people were injured, and 4,189,000 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). FARS is a census of fatal crashes within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico (although Puerto Rico is not included in U.S. totals). Crash and injury statistics are based on data from the General Estimates System (GES). GES is a probability-based sample of police-reported crashes, from 60 locations across the country, from which estimates of national totals for injury and property-damage-only crashes are derived. (Author/publisher)
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