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Motor vehicle traffic crash

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The FARS manual describes a motor vehicle traffic crash as a series of events arising from an unstabilized situation, with harmful and non-harmful events recorded in chronological order. The Fatality Analysis Reporting System is the fatal-crash census, not a count of every car accident or injury crash, and the national table therefore separates qualifying events from people killed. NHTSA requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and a vehicle occupant or nonoccupant dying within 30 days for a crash to enter FARS.[1][2]

Contents

Official definition and data selection

The motor vehicle traffic crash event sequence is drawn from the police crash report narrative and diagram, according to the manual, rather than being restricted to contact between moving vehicles. The sequence of events field includes harmful and non-harmful events, while the first harmful event and most harmful event fields identify particular events rather than the entire chronological sequence. For the motor vehicle traffic crash counts in this table, one accident-file record represents a fatal event and its fatalities field records the number of people killed in that event.[1][2]

National figures

The 2020 motor vehicle traffic crash census recorded 35,935 fatal crashes and 39,007 people killed in those events, with events counted separately from the people who died. The 2021 motor vehicle traffic crash census recorded 39,785 fatal crashes and 43,230 people killed in those events, with events counted separately from the people who died. The 2022 motor vehicle traffic crash census recorded 39,422 fatal crashes and 42,721 people killed in those events, with events counted separately from the people who died.[3][4][5]

The 2023 motor vehicle traffic crash census recorded 37,769 fatal crashes and 41,025 people killed in those events, with events counted separately from the people who died. The 2024 motor vehicle traffic crash census recorded 36,297 fatal crashes and 39,254 people killed in those events, with events counted separately from the people who died.[6][7]

National figures[3][4][5][6][7]
YearFatal traffic crashesPeople killed
202035,93539,007
202139,78543,230
202239,42242,721
202337,76941,025
202436,29739,254

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

The motor vehicle traffic crash totals shown here are limited to fatal events in the United States national files, excluding Puerto Rico, rather than all police-reported crashes or injuries. A fatal car accident can contribute more than one person to the death count, so the national event column and the people-killed column are different units rather than interchangeable totals. The most recent data year is the Annual Report File, which NHTSA says can change when finalized, while the earlier years in this table come from the saved Final Files.[1][2]

On related publications

References

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