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Nonoccupant

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Nonoccupant car accident data describe people classified outside the motor-vehicle driver and passenger categories, including pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and other or unknown nonoccupants. The national illustration here uses NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, which covers qualifying fatal traffic crashes. For 2024, the selected records show 7,080 pedestrian deaths, 1,103 pedalcyclist deaths, and 370 other or unknown nonoccupant deaths. These figures cover the United States, including the 50 states and District of Columbia, excluding Puerto Rico. They count selected people who died, rather than vehicles or crash events.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Contents

Official definition and data selection

The official auxiliary person classification separates pedestrians, pedalcyclists, and other or unknown nonoccupants from drivers and occupants. The operational selection here is PER_AUX A_PTYPE 3-5, restricted to INJ_SEV 4 for fatal injury severity. The other or unknown group includes raw PER_TYP=3 non-in-transport occupants. A person is not counted repeatedly because multiple vehicles were involved.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

FARS requires a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and an occupant or nonoccupant death within 30 days of the crash. A qualifying death therefore need not occur inside a vehicle.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures

The national illustrative series reports 6,565 pedestrian deaths, 948 pedalcyclist deaths, and 257 other or unknown nonoccupant deaths in 2020. For 2023, the corresponding counts were 7,367 pedestrian deaths, 1,173 pedalcyclist deaths, and 345 other or unknown nonoccupant deaths. Each category measures fatalities among its selected person records, not every death in crashes involving those people.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The 2024 figures come from the provisional Annual Report File and may change upon finalization. Earlier years use saved Final Files. Counts follow crash location rather than residence. No population denominator or population rate is supplied.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures[1][2][3][4][5]
YearPedestrian deathsPedalcyclist deathsOther or unknown nonoccupant deaths
20206,565948257
20217,470976302
20227,5931,117332
20237,3671,173345
20247,0801,103370

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

These nonoccupant figures include qualifying crashes regardless of vehicle type; they are not limited to passenger-car crashes. The classification records a person's role, not responsibility. The table neither counts surviving nonoccupants nor estimates injuries in crashes without a qualifying fatality.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Comparisons across years also need to account for a classification change. Before 2022, motorized bicycles were treated as motor vehicles and their operators and passengers as motorists. Beginning in 2022, those people are classified as pedalcyclists when involved in a motor vehicle traffic crash. Crashes involving only motorized bicycles are no longer included in FARS.[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