September 2004 A Brief Statistical Summary Published by the Mathematical Analysis Division DOT HS 809 782

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by 

Restraint Use and Ejection Status, 2003

Traffic Safety Facts

Crash•Stats

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 

Introduction

This document provides descriptive statistics on the extent of restraint use among fatally injured 

occupants of passenger vehicles 

in 2003. Data are presented for 

occupants of Passenger Cars, 

Pickup Trucks, Minivans, Large 

Vans, SUVs and other types of 

Light Trucks and Vans (LTVs).

As shown in the Table (overleaf), 56 percent of the occupants 

killed in fatal crashes were not 

restrained, i.e., they were not 

wearing safety belts or not properly restrained in child-safety 

seats, etc. The chance of a serious injury is higher when an 

occupant is not restrained, 

among other things, the chances 

of being ejected out of the vehicle 

increases. Fatality rates among 

non-ejected occupants are dramatically lower as compared 

with the ejected occupants in 

the same crash.

Source

The data used in this document 

are from NCSA’s Fatality Analysis 

Reporting System (FARS) Annual 

Report File for 2003.

Results

Overall, 44 percent of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants are ejected, partially or 

totally, from the vehicle as compared to only 6 percent of 

restrained occupants. Other notable observations include:

■ 65 percent of fatally injured 

unrestrained SUV occupants 

were ejected totally or partially, the highest among all types 

of passenger vehicles. The 

lowest such proportion was 

35 percent for passenger cars.

■ 57 percent of fatally injured 

unrestrained SUV occupants 

were totally ejected from their 

vehicles. This compared with 

28 percent of all unrestrained 

passenger car occupants, 39 

percent of all unrestrained 

pickup truck occupants and 

41 percent of all unrestrained 

minivan occupants.

■ 50 percent of all fatally injured 

passenger car occupants were 

unrestrained as compared to 

71 percent of all pickup truck 

occupants, 64 percent of all 

SUV occupants and 52 percent 

of all minivan occupants.

■ Overall, about 26 percent of 

fatally injured occupants were 

ejected from their vehicles. 

Also, about 80 percent of all 

ejected, fatally injured occupants were totally ejected.
National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20590 

Fatally Injured Passenger Vehicle Occupants by Type of Vehicle, Restraint Use 

and Ejection Status, 2003

 Vehicle Type by Ejection Status 

 Restraint Use Not Ejected Totally Ejected Partially Ejected Unknown Total

 Number % Number % Number % Number % Number %

Passenger Car Used 9,309 95% 236 2% 208 2% 38 0% 9,791 100%

Not Used 6,271 65% 2,708 28% 634 7% 56 1% 9,669 100%

Total 15,580 80% 2,944 15% 842 4% 94 0% 19,460 100%

Light Truck - Used 1,607 94% 30 2% 70 4% 4 0% 1,711 100%

Pickup Not Used 2,123 51% 1,632 39% 403 10% 35 1% 4,193 100%

Total 3,730 63% 1,662 28% 473 8% 39 1% 5,904 100%

Light Truck - Used 1,410 89% 90 6% 83 5% 5 0% 1,587 100%

Utility Not Used 1,004 35% 1,624 57% 210 7% 20 1% 2,859 100%

Total 2,414 54% 1,714 39% 293 7% 25 1% 4,446 100%

Light Truck - Used 655 92% 32 5% 20 3% 1 0% 708 100%

Minivan Not Used 400 51% 325 41% 64 8% 2 0% 791 100%

Total 1,055 70% 357 24% 84 6% 3 0% 1,499 100%

Light Truck - Used 816 93% 40 5% 24 3% 1 0% 882 100%

Van Not Used 601 51% 484 41% 95 8% 5 0% 1,184 100%

Total 1,417 69% 524 25% 119 6% 6 0% 2,066 100%

Light Truck - Used 7 100% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 7 100%

Other Not Used 9 45% 8 40% 3 15% 0 0% 20 100%

Total 16 59% 8 30% 3 11% 0 0% 27 100%

Total Used 13,142 94% 393 3% 384 3% 48 0% 13,968 100%

Not Used 10,015 56% 6,459 36% 1,346 8% 117 1% 17,936 100%

Total 23,157 73% 6,852 21% 1,730 5% 165 1% 31,904 100%

Source: NCSA FARS 2003 Annual Report File

Note: Totals may not equal previously reported totals as occupants whose restraint use was coded as “Unknown” were pro-rated between 

the restraint used and unused categories. The pro-rated fatality counts have been rounded to the nearest integer. Percents do not add up 

to 100% across columns due to independent rounding.

For additional copies of this Crash•Stats, please call 1-800-934-8517 or fax your request to (202) 366-3189. For questions regarding 

the data reported in this document, contact Rajesh Subramanian [202-366-5371]. This document and other general information on 

highway safety may be accessed by internet users at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html