Lessons Learned From 2016
U.S. Fatal Car Crash Data

Approximately 21% of all vehicle crashes are weather-related and on average, nearly 5,000 people are killed in weather-related crashes each year (source: Ten-year averages from 2007 to 2016 analyzed by Booz Allen Hamilton, based on NHTSA data). Weather acts through visibility impairments, precipitation, high winds, and temperature extremes to affect driver capabilities, vehicle performance (i.e. traction, stability and maneuverability), pavement friction, roadway infrastructure, crash risk, traffic flow, and agency productivity. See NHSTA's summary of how weather impacts various weather events on roadways, traffic flow, and operational decisions.

Alcohol and drug stand out as the most common risk factor.

Hover on bars to view crash counts by circumstances.

Methodology: Circumstances that may have contributed to a crash include distraction, driver's physical impairment, alcohol/drug influence, and impediments to the driver's visual field.

Alcohol and drugs usage is highly risky for both drivers and pedestrains (click on tabs to see how they correlate to fatality risk). Avoid alcohol and drugs when walking and driving; they impair your judgment and coordination.

Speeding endangers everyone on the road: According to NHSTA, for more than two decades, speeding has been involved in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities. In 2016,

How much does speeding have an impact on fatality risk of the vehicle occupants?

Speeding tickets are the most commonly used tool to deter speeders, but do they actually have an impact on driver's behaviors (and reducing car crashes related to speeding)?

It is a Class 3 Misdemeanor to operate a motor vehicle either greater than 15 MPH above the posted speed limit. § 20-141

A person will be charged with reckless driving when the speeding exceeds 25 MPH above the speed limit. § 20-141

Still 50 fatal crashes involved reckless drivers who have previously received 3 speeding citations.

Hover on bars to view details.

Methodology: This visualization relates the vehicle's overspeeding amount at the time of crash to the driver’s past speeding convictions. We trace the change in ratio of drivers involved in fatal crashes by the number of previous (within five years from the crash date) speeding convictions of the driver.

Overall, it can be observed from the visualization above that speeding citations are effective at reducing the likelihood of receiving subsequent speeding tickets, as significant drops in number of fatal crashes for drivers who have previously received speeding citations. However, while the total speeding-related crash count sees a downward trend, the absolute crash count remains significant, especially for reckless speeders, suggesting that speeding citations have limited effects on deterrence in the context of the current traffic enforcement system.

Of the 23,714 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2016, there were 11,282 (48%) who were restrained and 10,428 (44%) who were unrestrained at the time of the crashes. Restraint use was not known for the remaining 2,004 (8%) of the occupants. For passenger vehicle occupants involved in fatal crashes in 2016, nearly half of those who were killed were unrestrained in the crash, compared to only 14 percent of those that survived.

Among all vehicle occupants, people riding on vehicle exterior have the highest fatality rate, followed by passengers sitting in cargo areas or trailing unit, a result from lacking safety protection measures. Inside the vehicle, seats in the front row (Front Seat, Second Seat positions) are shown to be more dangerous than seats in the back row (Third Seat, Fourth Seat positions).

In 2016,
• 5,987 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes, accounting for 16% of all traffic fatalities.
• On average, a pedestrian was killed in traffic crashes nearly every 1.5 hours.

Pedestrians, along with cyclists and persons on personal conveyances, are one of the road user groups with the highest fatality risks in road traffic crashes.

Hover on bars to view injury counts.

Below we show how the number of fatal crashes correlate to pedestrian actions immediately prior to the crash and how the actions relate to the orientation of their collision with respect to the striking vehicle.

Beware the dangers of pulling over on the side of the road when your car get disabled!

Hover on circles to view details.

Data show that far more people involved in fatal crashes when dealing with disabled vehicles (see recounts of such incidents here, here and here). Do you know what to do if your vehicle becomes disabled on a highway? Experts offered advise on how to remain safe during a roadside emergency. "You are better protected in the car than anywhere else," said Cathleen Lewis, director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the Northeast division of AAA.

"If possible, get off the highway before stopping," said Lt. Theodore Schafer of the New Jersey State Police. "Is it worth you protecting the rim on your car and pulling over in a dangerous spot versus possibly damaging the rim and making yourself safe? Try to get far enough out of the way and off the main roads so that you won’t be an obstacle for other cars."

Both experts agree that the best thing to do is call 911. Don’t be shy about it. "There seems to be a misconception that we will be upset with you if you call 911," Schafer said, "If your car is broken down on the side of the road to us that constitutes an emergency that requires assistance, so absolutely call 911."

We investigated how passenger vehicle occupant fatality correlates to various vehicle conditions in fatal crashes.

The analysis shows that among all passenger vehicle (passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks or vans) occupants involved in a fatal crash, the proportion who were fatally injured increases with vehicle age, i.e., the proportion was higher among occupants of older vehicles as compared to the occupants of newer vehicles. Also, the proportion of occupants who were fatally injured was higher among occupants of older model year vehicles as compared to the occupants of newer model year vehicles.

The improved quality of cars is a bit of a double-edged sword when it comes to the age issue. As cars get better on multiple fronts, such as safety technology and crashworthiness, they also become more reliable and longer lasting, leading to Americans driving cars until they're much older and pushing the average age of a car in the U.S. up to 11.6 years at last count. Despite these gains in car quality, the older a car gets, the less reliable and less safe it becomes.

NHTSA has released a shopping guide to help consumers make sense of the myriad vehicle safety and driver assistance systems available on modern cars.

We have also studied which vehicle body types render their occupants vulnerable to fatality risk in road traffic crashes. It was observed that fatality risk varies widely based on vehicle body types, and notably, motorcycles (of all types) and snowmobiles occupants suffer higher fatality risk by a large margin. Trucks, vans, and buses have some of the lowest fatalities.
Click here to compare how different vehicle body types relate to fatality risk below.