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Intersection crash

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An intersection crash, as used here, is a fatal traffic crash assigned to the intersection category in NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS. The national illustration records 10,432 deaths in intersection crash events in 2024, alongside 39,254 all traffic deaths. These figures cover the United States, including the 50 states and District of Columbia, and exclude Puerto Rico. They describe deaths by crash location, not residence. The intersection figure includes all people killed in selected events, rather than only drivers or people traveling in passenger vehicles.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Contents

Official definition and data selection

The official auxiliary classification distinguishes intersection, non-intersection and unknown categories. The operational selection for this table is ACC_AUX A_INTSEC attribute 1, the intersection category. Fatalities are summed across the selected crash events; vehicle records and person records are not counted as separate crashes. Records classified as unknown are not reassigned to the intersection category.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

This selection gives the term a specific statistical meaning. A general description of a crash as occurring near a junction does not establish that it belongs in the selected category, and the category does not isolate car accidents.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures

The national figures show 9,525 deaths in intersection crash events in 2020 and 10,507 in 2021. The corresponding all traffic deaths totals were 39,007 and 43,230. In 2022, intersection crash events accounted for 10,731 deaths, with 42,721 all traffic deaths. The 2023 figures were 10,504 and 41,025, respectively.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

All traffic deaths for the same year and geographic scope provide the denominator for any intersection share, not a population denominator. The supplied 2024 figures use the provisional Annual Report File and may change when finalized; earlier years use saved FARS Final Files.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures[1][2][3][4][5]
YearDeaths in intersection crash eventsAll traffic deaths
20209,52539,007
202110,50743,230
202210,73142,721
202310,50441,025
202410,43239,254

United States, 50 states and District of Columbia, excluding Puerto Rico. 2024 uses the Annual Report File; earlier FARS years use saved Final Files.

Limits of the term and figures

FARS covers fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes, so these counts do not describe the full volume of intersection collisions, including nonfatal events. Death totals are also distinct from counts of crashes, vehicles or intersections, and no population rate is supplied.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The FARS manual's Appendix G explains that the accident-file relation-to-junction field locates the first harmful event, which may differ from a pedestrian's or bicyclist's location. Person and pedestrian-bicycle fields use different location concepts and cannot be treated as interchangeable intersection selectors. Excluded records may have unknown classifications, so exclusion alone does not establish a known non-intersection location.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

On related publications

References

  1. abcdefgh "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2020 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdefgh "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2021 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdefgh "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2022 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. abcdefgh "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2023 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  5. abcdefgh "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2024 national data files (Annual Report File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  6. abcdefg "Fatality Analysis Reporting System Auxiliary Data Manual, 1982-2019 (DOT HS 813 071)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  7. abcdefg "Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  8. abcdefg "Overview of motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2024 (DOT HS 813 791, April 2026)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record