December 2004 A Brief Statistical Summary DOT HS 809 818

Restraint Use Among Fatally Injured 

Passenger Vehicle Occupants by Sex

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 sex.

Out of the 31,904 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 

2003, 20,654 (65 percent) were males, 11,246 (35 percent) 

were females and the rest were unknown. The chart below 

and Table 1 (overleaf) show 5-year trend data of passenger 

vehicle occupant fatalities by sex and restraint use. Among 

the 20,654 fatally injured male passenger vehicle occupants 

12,751 (62 percent) were not restrained and of the 11,246 

female passenger vehicle occupants 5,279 (47 percent) were 

not restrained. The data clearly show that restraint use in fatal 

crashes among males is much lower than among females. 

Figure 1

Percent Unrestrained Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by Sex and Year

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Male Female

Sex and Year

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Percent Unrestrained

68 66 65 64

52

62

50 49 48 47
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 3 categories. Table 2 shows the 

classification of restraint use.

Calendar Year and Sex

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

Table 1

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by Year, Sex and Restraint Use

Restraint Use

Not used Used Total

 Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

 Male 13,923 68 6,523 32 20,446 100

1999 Female 6,037 52 5,637 48 11,674 100

 Unknown 4 50 3 50 7 100

 Total* 19,954 62 12,173 38 32,127 100

 Male 13,772 66 7,091 34 20,863 100

2000 Female 5,633 50 5,725 50 11,358 100

 Unknown 1 33 3 67 4 100

 Total* 19,391 60 12,834 40 32,225 100

 Male 13,546 65 7,288 35 20,834 100

2001 Female 5,513 49 5,692 51 11,205 100

 Unknown 3 67 1 33 4 100

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

 Male 13,767 64 7,664 36 21,431 100

 2002 Female 5,506 48 5,897 52 11,403 100

 Unknown 7 83 2 17 9 100

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

 Male 12,751 62 7,903 38 20,654 100

2003 Female 5,279 47 5,967 53 11,246 100

 Unknown 4 100 0 0 4 100

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

Source: NCSA, FARS 1999-2002 (FINAL), 2003 (ARF)

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

* Not equal to sum of (Male, Female & Unknown) due to individual rounding.