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Work zone crash

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A work zone crash under the FARS manual can have its first harmful event within the work zone or on an approach or exit, with the required relation to traffic movement through the zone. The definition includes an activity, behavior or control related to movement through the work zone, rather than treating every car accident near a construction project as a qualifying event. The Fatality Analysis Reporting System national table counts deaths in selected fatal traffic crashes across vehicle types, using the recorded work-zone field rather than a new classification based on a road name.[1][2]

Contents

Official definition and data selection

The work zone crash field identifies the kind of work activity after the event qualifies, and its current categories distinguish construction, maintenance, utility work and work-zone type unknown. The manual expressly states that using these codes does not imply the crash was caused by construction, maintenance or work activity, so the recorded category is not a causation finding. The work zone crash calculation selects the current affirmative work-zone categories and sums the fatalities in those accident records, while the comparison column retains the national traffic death total.[1][2]

National figures

For 2020, the national work zone crash selection recorded 863 deaths, while traffic crashes overall accounted for 39,007 deaths across the United States, with the selected category included in the overall total. For 2021, the national work zone crash selection recorded 961 deaths, while traffic crashes overall accounted for 43,230 deaths across the United States, with the selected category included in the overall total. For 2022, the national work zone crash selection recorded 903 deaths, while traffic crashes overall accounted for 42,721 deaths across the United States, with the selected category included in the overall total.[3][4][5]

For 2023, the national work zone crash selection recorded 904 deaths, while traffic crashes overall accounted for 41,025 deaths across the United States, with the selected category included in the overall total. For 2024, the national work zone crash selection recorded 850 deaths, while traffic crashes overall accounted for 39,254 deaths across the United States, with the selected category included in the overall total.[6][7]

National figures[3][4][5][6][7]
YearDeaths in work zone crash eventsAll traffic deaths
202086339,007
202196143,230
202290342,721
202390441,025
202485039,254

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

A work zone crash death count is not the number of workers killed, because the selected accident records count all people killed in those events without restricting their role to work-zone personnel. The location and movement conditions in the definition are different from legal responsibility for a car accident, and the table does not estimate all nonfatal crashes near road work. The work zone crash field includes a category for unknown type of work after the event qualifies, which is not the same category as no work zone in the recorded data.[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