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Single-vehicle crash

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A single-vehicle crash is classified by the motor vehicles in transport involved, rather than by how many people were present or killed. In the supplied United States figures, deaths in single-vehicle crashes numbered 21,224 in 2024, compared with 18,030 deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes. These national illustrations come from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, or FARS, and cover fatal traffic crashes only. Their geographic scope is the 50 states and District of Columbia, excluding Puerto Rico.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Contents

Official definition and data selection

The official FARS auxiliary classification places crashes involving one motor vehicle in transport in the single-vehicle category. Operationally, the selection uses the single-vehicle category in the ACC_AUX A_CT crash-type field. The death column sums fatalities from those selected accident records; the comparison column combines the categories for two vehicles and more than two vehicles. Separately, the FARS manual derives the motor-vehicles-in-transport count from linked Vehicle records and records parked or working vehicles in Parkwork. Neither classification nor selection is based on how many people died.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures

The national death counts illustrate the selected categories without measuring the number of crashes. In 2020, single-vehicle crashes accounted for 21,823 deaths, while multiple-vehicle crashes accounted for 17,184 deaths. In 2021, the corresponding counts were 23,274 deaths and 19,956 deaths. Among the supplied annual rows, deaths in single-vehicle crashes were highest in 2022 at 23,320; multiple-vehicle crashes recorded 19,401 deaths that year.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

The 2024 figures use the provisional Annual Report File and remain subject to revision. Earlier years use saved Final Files. No population rate or travel-exposure denominator is supplied.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

National figures[1][2][3][4][5]
YearDeaths in single-vehicle crashesDeaths in multiple-vehicle crashes
202021,82317,184
202123,27419,956
202223,32019,401
202321,97419,051
202421,22418,030

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 includes a traffic crash only if it involves a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and results in the death of a vehicle occupant or nonoccupant within 30 days of the crash. These figures exclude nonfatal crashes. A single-vehicle crash may involve a pedestrian, so deaths are not restricted to drivers or occupants. The category establishes neither cause nor legal fault.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

Beginning in 2022, NHTSA stopped classifying motorized bicycles as motor vehicles. Their operators and passengers are recorded as pedalcyclists when involved in a motor vehicle traffic crash; crashes involving only motorized bicycles are no longer captured in FARS. This classification change limits comparisons across the supplied years.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]

On related publications

References

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