November 2004 A Brief Statistical Summary DOT HS 809 819

Restraint Use Among Fatally Injured 

Passenger Vehicle Occupants by Vehicle Type

Traffic Safety Facts

Crash•Stats

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590 

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 

(NHTSA) National Center for Statistics and Analysis 

(NCSA) recently released the annual crash statistics for 

the year 2003. A total of 42,643 people died on the Nation’s 

highways. The numbers were made available from NHTSA’s 

Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which annually 

collects crash statistics from 50 States, the District of 

Columbia and Puerto Rico. Research has found that lap/

shoulder safety belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal 

injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent 

and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent. For 

light truck occupants, safety belts reduce the risk of fatal 

injury by 60 percent and moderate-to-critical injury by 65 

percent. However, the 2003 data showed that a majority of 

fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants continue to be 

unrestrained (56 percent). This Crash•Stats looks at the 

differences in restraint use among fatally injured passenger 

vehicle occupants based on vehicle type.

Out of the 31,904 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 

2003, 19,460 (61 percent) were occupants of passenger cars, 

4,446 (14 percent) were occupants of sport utility vehicles 

(SUVs), 5,904 persons (19 percent) were occupants of pickup 

trucks, 2,066 persons (6 percent) were occupants of vans 

and the rest were from other light trucks. The chart below 

and Table 1 (overleaf) show 3-year trend data of passenger 

vehicle occupant fatalities by vehicle type and restraint 

use. The data clearly show that restraint use among fatally 

injured occupants of SUVs and pickup trucks is much lower 

compared to passenger cars and vans. 

Figure 1

Percent Unrestrained Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by Vehicle Type and Year

2001 2002 2003

Cars SUVs Pickups Vans

Vehicle Type and Year

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Percent Unrestrained

2001 2002 2003 2001 2002 2003 2001 2002 2003

53 50

67 66 65

71

61 56 57 53

75 74
Table 1

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by Year, Vehicle Type and Restraint Use

Restraint Use

Not used Used Total

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

 Passenger Cars 10,788 53 9,532 47 20,320 100

SUVs 2,354 67 1,176 33 3,530 100

2001 Pickups 4,624 75 1,515 25 6,139 100

 Vans 1,230 61 789 39 2,019 100

 Other Light Trucks 25 73 10 27 35 100

 Total* 19,051 59 12,992 41 32,043 100

 Passenger Cars 10,840 53 9,729 47 20,569 100

 SUVs 2,653 66 1,378 34 4,031 100

2002 Pickups 4,538 74 1,562 26 6,100 100

 Vans 1,191 56 918 44 2,109 100

 Other Light Trucks 29 85 5 15 34 100

 Total* 19,272 59 13,571 41 32,843 100

 Passenger Cars 9,699 50 9,761 50 19,460 100

 SUVs 2,874 65 1,572 35 4,446 100

2003 Pickups 4,211 71 1,693 29 5,904 100

 Vans 1,187 57 879 43 2,066 100

 Other Light Trucks 21 74 7 26 28 100

 Total* 18,019 56 13,885 44 31,904 100

Source: NCSA, FARS 2001-2002 (FINAL), 2003 (ARF)

Unknown restraint use is distributed proportionally to the known use categories.

* Not equal to sum of (Passenger Cars, SUVs, Pickups, Vans and Other Light Trucks) due to individual rounding.

Table 2

Classification of Restraint Use 

Classification Categories Used

Used Shoulder belt, Lap belt, Lap and shoulder 

belt, Child safety seat, Restraint used 

– type unknown, Safety belt used improperly, Child safety seat used improperly

Not Used None used (vehicle occupant)

Unknown Unknown if used

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 400 Seventh St., SW, Washington, DC 20590 

Definitions

The term ‘occupant’ is used for drivers, passengers and the 

unknown occupant types of a motor vehicle in transport. 

The term ‘passenger vehicle occupant’ refers to the drivers, 

passengers and unknown occupant type of passenger cars, 

SUVs, pickup trucks, vans and other light trucks. Restraint 

usage is classified into three categories. Table 2 shows the 

classification of restraint use.

Calendar Year and

Vehicle Type

For questions regarding the data reported in this note, contact Umesh G. Shankar [202-366-5558] or Cherian Varghese 

[202-366-1114]. Some of the findings in this note were obtained from the following NCSA publication: DOT HS 809 

774. This crash stats and other general information on highway traffic safety may be accessed by internet users at: 

http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/deparments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html