DOT HS 810 944 May 2008 

Trends in Non-Fatal Traffic

Injuries: 1996 – 2005

This document is available to the public from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, Virginia 22161
This publication is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings 

and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those 

of the Department of Transportation or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. If trade or 

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Technical Report Documentation Page 

1. Report No. 

DOT HS 810 944 

2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipients's Catalog No. 

4. Title and Subtitle 

Trends in Non-Fatal Traffic Injuries: 1996 – 2005 

5. Report Date 

May 2008 

6. Performing Organization Code 

NVS-421 

7. Author(s) 

Marc Starnes 

8. Performing Organization Report No. 

9. Performing Organization Name and Address 

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE. 

Washington, DC 20590 

10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS)n code 

11. Contract of Grant No. 

12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 

National Center for Statistics and Analysis 

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 

U.S. Department of Transportation 

1200 New Jersey Avenue SE. 

Washington, DC 20590 

13. Type of Report and Period Covered 

NHTSA Technical Report 

14. Sponsoring Agency Code 

15.Supplementary Notes 

Cejun Liu, Alex Strashny, Marilouise Burgess, Tim Pickrell, and Anders Longthorne contributed in the preparation and review of 

this report. 

16. Abstract 

An analysis of three major databases of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that from 1996 

through 2005, the annual number of “incapacitating” injuries due to motor vehicle crashes decreased by 25 to 28 percent. 

Incapacitating is a category of injury severity that represents the most severe non-fatal injuries. An incapacitating injury is a nonfatal injury that prevents the injured person from walking, driving, or normally continuing the activities the person was capable of 

performing before the injury occurred. 

This report utilizes three databases from NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis (NCSA). The databases are used 

separately to analyze trends in non-fatal motor vehicle injuries. Data was individually examined from the Fatality Analysis 

Reporting System (FARS) from 1996 through 2005, the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System (GES) 

from 1996 through 2005, and 25 States in the State Data System (SDS) from 1996 through 2004. 

A significant reduction was seen in the overall non-fatal injury counts in each of the FARS, GES, and SDS databases. The GES 

and SDS annual injury counts dropped by 23 percent and 9 percent respectively, while an 11-percent drop in non-fatal injuries was 

seen in the FARS database of fatal crashes. The largest percentage decline in the FARS database (25%), GES database (28%), and 

SDS database (25%) occurred among the most severe injuries, referred to as incapacitating injuries. The rate of non-fatal injuries 

per crash also declined in each of the three databases. These reductions in non-fatal injuries seen in FARS, GES, and SDS have 

taken place despite a 20-percent increase in vehicle miles traveled. Concurrent with these declines in non-fatal injuries, the number 

of FARS fatalities rose by 3 percent. 

The decline in injuries noted in this report is correlated to the many improvements in vehicle safety and driver and passenger 

behavior that have taken place in the last decade. These improvements include, but are not limited to: an increased use of seat belts 

and child safety seats, reductions in drunk driving, as well as an expansion throughout the vehicle fleet of air bags and electronic 

stability control. 

17. Key Words 

Injuries, non-fatal injuries, injury severity, injury rate, impact 

point, trends, FARS, NASS-GES, State Data Systems, SDS 

18. Distribution Statement 

Document is available to the public through the National 

Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 

19. Security Classif. (of this report) 

 Unclassified 

20. Security Classif. (of this page) 

 Unclassified 

21. No of Pages 22. Price 

Form DOT F1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized 

Table of Contents 

I. Executive Summary .................................................................................................................. 3

II. Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 5

III. Background............................................................................................................................. 6

Fatality Analysis Reporting System................................................................................................ 6 

General Estimates System............................................................................................................... 6 

State Data System ........................................................................................................................... 6 

IV. Methodology............................................................................................................................ 7

V. Results ....................................................................................................................................... 9

Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes................................................................................................ 9 

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities ......................................................................................... 11 

Surviving Occupants Injured in Fatal Crashes.............................................................................. 13 

Non-fatal Injuries in GES Crashes................................................................................................ 16 

Non-fatal Injuries in SDS Crashes................................................................................................ 18 

Injury Severity .............................................................................................................................. 20 

Impact Point.................................................................................................................................. 23 

Injury Rates per Crash .................................................................................................................. 26 

VI. Discussion .............................................................................................................................. 32

VII. Limitations........................................................................................................................... 34

VIII. Conclusion.......................................................................................................................... 37

IX. Appendix ............................................................................................................................... 38

X. References............................................................................................................................... 42

1 
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 2 
I. Executive Summary 

An analysis of three major databases maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration (NHTSA) shows that from 1996 through 2005, a significant decline in non-fatal 

motor vehicle injuries occurred. The significant decline that had been observed in one database 

has been validated through an analysis which included two additional NHTSA databases. These 

three databases show that the average number of people suffering incapacitating injuries each 

year due to motor vehicle crashes has decreased by 25 to 28 percent. An incapacitating injury is 

a category of injury severity that represents the most severe non-fatal injuries, as coded by law 

enforcement officers on police crash reports. 

This report utilizes three separate databases to analyze the trend in non-fatal motor vehicle 

injuries. Data were individually analyzed from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 

from 1996 through 2005, the National Automotive Sampling System General Estimates System 

(GES) from 1996 through 2005, and 25 States in the State Data System (SDS) for available years 

from 1996 through 2004. 

Over the years, the traffic on America’s roads has increased significantly and much work has 

been done to make motor vehicle travel in America as safe as possible. NHTSA has put forth a 

tremendous effort to push for recent improvements in vehicle safety as well as safer behavior 

displayed by drivers and passengers. These improvements include, but are not limited to, an 

increased use of seat belts and child safety seats, reductions in drunk driving, as well as an 

expansion throughout the vehicle fleet of air bags and electronic stability control. 

Since the mid-1990s, a decline in injuries has been noted through estimates published using the 

GES database. The goal of the report was to determine if the decline in injuries that has been 

seen in the GES database is further validated and in agreement with a decline in injury counts in 

other NHTSA databases. 

Results of this analysis show that the databases are in agreement and validate the decline in 

incapacitating injuries. The annual number of FARS incapacitating injuries dropped by 25 

percent, while GES and SDS incapacitating injury counts dropped by 28 and 25 percent, 

respectively, during the years examined. In the course of doing this analysis, a significant 

reduction was also seen in the overall non-fatal injury counts in each of the FARS, GES, and 

SDS databases. The GES and SDS annual injury counts dropped by 23 percent and 9 percent 

respectively, while an 11 percent drop in non-fatal injuries was seen in the FARS database of 

fatal crashes. These reductions in injuries seen in FARS, GES, and SDS have taken place 

despite a 20-percent increase in vehicle miles traveled (VMT). 

The total number of FARS fatalities rose by 3 percent, from 42,065 in 1996 to 43,443 in 2005. 

Among passenger vehicle occupants, the fatality count dropped 3 percent, from 32,437 to 

31,415. While these fatality counts have been relatively stagnant, the number of incapacitating 

injuries in FARS, GES, and SDS each fell by 25 to 28 percent during this time. This trend 

suggests that the improvements in safety equipment and occupant behavior over this time period 

were highly effective in reducing serious injuries. 

Police time constraints may have contributed to the reduction in the recorded counts of injuries 

of the least severity. However, this potential data collection limitation should not have 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 3 
contributed to the large decline in incapacitating injuries, as a police officer consistently 

completes a police crash report for a crash where someone was severely injured. 

As expected, the shift in injury severity distribution among survivors of FARS fatal crashes was 

different from survivors of GES and SDS non-fatal injury crashes. Among non-fatal GES and 

SDS injury crashes, the significant decline in annual injury counts occurred among all injury 

severity levels (incapacitating, non-incapacitating, and possible injuries). Comparatively, in 

FARS fatal crashes, the annual count of incapacitating injuries dropped 25 percent, while the 

non-incapacitating injuries declined only 3 percent and the possible injuries rose 3 percent. The 

years of 2003 and 2005 were the first time that incapacitating injuries were not the most common 

non-fatal injury severity among fatal crashes. The count of less severe non-incapacitating 

injuries was higher than the count of incapacitating injuries during these two years. 

The rate of injuries per crash was also examined in the FARS, GES, and SDS databases. The 

number of crashes where a person was injured declined in GES and SDS, and at the same time 

the number of injuries from these crashes showed a more significant decline. These two 

concurrent trends led to a decline in the rate of injuries per crash in both GES and SDS. The rate 

of injuries per crash dropped five percent in GES and three percent in SDS. In FARS, there was 

a 15-percent drop in the rate of non-fatal injuries per crash. These findings show that the 

reduction in injury counts was due to both a drop in the number of injury-related crashes, as well 

as a drop in the rate of injuries per crash. 

Other countries in addition to the United States experienced a decline in motor vehicle injuries. 

Australia, Great Britain, and France are three examples of the many countries that showed a 

decline in motor vehicle injuries over the last decade. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 4 
II. Introduction 

Since the mid-1990s, the traffic on America’s roads has increased significantly, as the number of 

vehicle miles traveled (VMT) rose 20 percent from 1996 to 2005 (FHWA 2006). During this 

time period, restraint use rose from 61 percent to 82 percent (NOPUS 2005), and the percent of 

traffic fatalities that were alcohol-related dropped from 42 percent to 39 percent. Many 

improvements in the vehicle fleet occurred, including a large increase in the number of vehicles 

equipped with air bags. 

To help learn how to best improve the safety of America’s roads, NHTSA’s National Center for 

Statistics and Analysis (NCSA) produces and analyzes many different vehicle crash databases. 

Data on fatal crashes are collected through the FARS database. The number of traffic fatalities 

climbed 3.3 percent from 42,065 in 1996 to 43,443 in 2005; the number of motorcycle fatalities 

more than doubled from 2,161 in 1996 to 4,553 in 2005; and there was a 3.2-percent decrease 

during that time in passenger vehicle fatalities from 32,437 in 1996 to 31,415 in 2005. The 

overall fatality rate fell 14.2 percent, from 1.69 to 1.45 fatalities per 100 million VMT. 

The GES database provides information on State-reported fatal crashes, injury crashes, and 

property-damage-only (PDO) crashes. GES estimates that the number of non-fatal traffic 

injuries decreased 22.5 percent over ten years, from 3,332,000 in 1996 to 2,581,000 in 2005. 

When combined with the increase in VMT during this time, the injury rate dropped from 134 to 

86 injured people per 100 million VMT, a reduction of 35.6 percent. 

The goal of this report is to test the hypothesis that non-fatal traffic injuries have declined 

significantly since the mid-1990s. The three databases examined in this report are FARS, GES, 

and the State Data System (SDS). In order to use the FARS database of fatal crashes to gather 

information about trends in traffic injury counts, the FARS database was grouped to show counts 

of A) fatally injured occupants, and B) occupants with non-fatal injuries. 

Each of these three databases, FARS, GES, and SDS, has different information that is helpful in 

analyzing injury trends in traffic crashes in the United States. This report examines data 

collected since 1996 in FARS, GES, and SDS to attempt to better understand the recent trends in 

non-fatal traffic injuries, and to determine whether or not there has been a significant decline in 

traffic injuries over the last decade. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 5 
III. Background 

Data from the FARS, GES, and State Data System databases were separately examined for this 

report. These three databases are unique, and have many similarities and differences. Below are 

brief summaries of what is present in these three databases. 

Fatality Analysis Reporting System 

Fatality information derived from FARS includes motor vehicle traffic crashes that result in the 

death of an occupant of a vehicle or a nonmotorist within 30 days of the crash. FARS contains 

data on all fatal traffic crashes within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. 

NHTSA has a contract with an agency in each State to provide information on fatal crashes. 

FARS analysts are State employees who extract the information and put it in a standard format. 

Data on fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes are gathered from the State's own source documents, 

and are coded on standard FARS forms. The analysts obtain the documents needed to complete 

the FARS forms, which generally include some or all of the following: Police Accident Reports 

(PARs), State vehicle registration files, State driver licensing files, State Highway Department 

data, Vital Statistics, Death certificates, Coroner/Medical examiner reports, Hospital medical 

records, and emergency medical service reports 

FARS information for this report focuses on two groups of people who were involved in FARS 

crashes: 1) Vehicle occupants who received non-fatal injuries in fatal crashes, and 2) vehicle 

occupants who were fatally injured in these fatal crashes. 

General Estimates System 

The crash data in the GES database come from a nationally representative sample of Statereported motor vehicle traffic crashes. The information is used to estimate how many motor 

vehicle crashes of different kinds take place, and what happens when they occur. For a crash to 

be eligible for the GES sample: the crash must be reported on a State accident form (police 

accident report or PAR); the PAR must be signed by a police officer and sent to the State for 

inclusion in the State's annual statistics; the crash must involve at least one motor vehicle 

traveling on a traffic way; and the result must be property damage, injury, or death. These PARs 

are chosen from 60 areas across the United States that reflect geography and population. GES 

data collectors make weekly visits to approximately 413 police jurisdictions in the 60 areas 

across the United States, where they randomly sample about 56,000 PARs each year. The data 

collectors obtain copies of the PARs and send them to a central contractor for coding. 

State Data System 

Each State in the SDS maintains a database that contains comprehensive information about 

people, vehicles, and conditions recorded in PARs. Information will vary from State to State 

because many States have different data collection and reporting standards. NHTSA obtains 

crash data files derived from data recorded on State PARs. NHTSA refers to the collection of 

these computerized State crash data files as the State Data System. The crash data files from the 

States are requested annually from the appropriate State agencies. In most instances, the 

coordinating State agency is the State police, the State highway safety department, or the State 

Department of Transportation. See the Appendix for links to SDS information. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 6 
IV. Methodology 

This report made use of data from the FARS, GES, and SDS databases for all available years 

since 1996. In FARS and GES, data were available for crashes occurring from 1996 through 

2005. SDS data for the years 1996 through 2004 were examined, since the collection and 

aggregation of the State data from the many different States is completed on a different 

timeframe compared to the FARS and GES data. 

The FARS database is a census of fatal traffic crashes within the 50 States, the District of 

Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The GES database is a nationally representative probability sample 

selected from State-reported crashes. SDS is a collection of databases that contain a census of 

crashes from police crash reports from each State in the State Data System. 

For a crash to be included in this report, a person needed to be injured in the crash. People 

involved in multi-person crashes where an injury occurred, but were not injured in those crashes, 

are not included in the person-level counts in this report. No crashes where there was “property 

damage only” were included. 

Injury counts in this report from FARS and GES frequently include injuries of the following 

severities: incapacitating, non-incapacitating, and possible. Injuries were often categorized in 

decreasing order of levels of injury severity, as taken from the frequently used “KABCO” scale 

for injury severity: (K) fatal injury, (A) incapacitating injury, (B) non-incapacitating injury, (C) 

possible injury, and (O) no injury. As noted, injury counts for some tables in this report include 

injuries where the severity of the injury was unknown, while other tables only include injuries of 

known severity. For data consistency, no SDS tables include injuries of unknown severity. 

For crashes that were categorized by impact point, the following categories were created: frontal 

impact (11, 12, and 1 o’clock), left side impact (8, 9, and 10 o’clock), right side impact (2, 3, and 

4 o’clock), and rear impact (5, 6, and 7 o’clock). These categories were based on the principal 

impact point of the crash. Non-collisions and impacts on the top of the vehicle or the 

undercarriage of the vehicle were not included in the tables that examined impact point. 

In order to use the FARS database of fatal crashes to gather information about trends in traffic 

injury counts, FARS was stratified to show counts of fatally injured vehicle occupants, and 

occupants with non-fatal injuries. Trends were then separately examined for the time-period of 

1996 through 2005 for the number of fatalities in FARS and the number of non-fatally injured 

people in FARS. 

A total of 25 SDS States that had data for some or all of the years 1996 through 2004 were 

included in this analysis. Five of these States had data for all of the years from 1996 through 

2004 (Florida, Maryland, Montana, New Mexico, and Ohio). The remaining 20 States had data 

available for a subset of the years from 1996 through 2004. A fixed-effects statistical model for 

longitudinal data analysis was used to aggregate the applicable State data from 24 of these 25 

States into one model. State data from Ohio was not included in this model due to coding issues 

that are discussed in the Limitations section of this report. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 7 
The fixed-effects model calculated percent changes in the injury counts, adjusting for the 

inclusion of a varying number of States over time. The SDS data used in this report cannot be 

used to extrapolate the change in injury counts for the entire Nation. However, the use of a large 

number of States from a diverse geographic location allows this model to estimate the overall 

percentage change in injuries. 

The fixed-effects model decomposes injuries by State and by year, and constructs the overall 

estimates as a sum of State and year effects. This model is a standard technique when dealing 

with missing longitudinal data. Fixed effects estimation is a method of estimating parameters 

from a panel data set. The fixed effects estimator is obtained by ordinary least squares on the 

deviations from the means of each unit or time period. This approach is relevant when one 

expects that the averages of the dependent variable will be different for each cross-section unit, 

or each time period, but the variance of the errors will not. More information on fixed-effects 

modeling can be located in a 31st Annual SAS Users Group International (SUGI) paper on Fixed 

Effects Regression Methods in SAS (Allison, 2006). 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 8 
Table 1 

Fatalities, VMT, and Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year

Percent Percent 

Change in Change in 

Fatality Fatality Fatality 

Count Rate per Rate 

Fatality (Baseline = VMT 100 Million (Baseline = 

Year Count 1996) (billions) VMT 1996) 

1996 42,065 Baseline 2,486 1.69 Baseline 

1997 42,013 -0.1 2,562 1.64 -3.0 

1998 41,501 -1.3 2,632 1.58 -6.5 

1999 41,717 -0.8 2,691 1.55 -8.3 

2000 41,945 -0.3 2,747 1.53 -9.5 

2001 42,196 0.3 2,797 1.51 -10.7 

2002 43,005 2.2 2,856 1.51 -10.7 

2003 42,884 1.9 2,890 1.48 -12.4 

2004 42,836 1.8 2,965 1.44 -14.8 

2005 43,443 3.3 2,990 1.45 -14.2 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

V. Results 

Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes 

In 2005, the number of traffic fatalities in the United States totaled 43,443. This is a 3.3-percent 

increase compared to the 1996 fatality count of 42,065. The number of vehicle miles traveled 

(VMT) increased 20 percent during that time, from 2,486 to 2,990 billion miles traveled. When 

dividing the fatality counts by the VMT, a fatality rate per 100 million VMT can be calculated. 

The fatality rate declined 14 percent from 1.69 in 1996 to 1.45 in 2005. These trends can be seen 

below in Table 1 and Figures 1, 2, and 3. 

The fatality counts in Table 1 represent all fatalities from motor vehicle crashes, including 

vehicle occupants, motorcycle riders, pedestrians, and pedalcyclists. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 9 
Figure 1 

Fatalities, by Year 

41,000 

41,500 

42,000 

42,500 

43,000 

43,500 

44,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatality Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Figure 2 

Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

1.5 

1.6 

1.7 

1.8 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatality Rate Per 100 Million

VMT 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

Figure 3 

Percent Change in Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, 

By Year, Baseline=1996

-18.0 

-15.0 

-12.0 

-9.0 

-6.0 

-3.0 

0.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Percent Change in Fatality

Rate 

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 10 
Table 2 

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities, VMT, 

And Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year 

Percent Passenger Percent 

Passenger Change in Vehicle Change in 

Vehicle Fatality Passenger Fatality Fatality 

Occupants Count Vehicle Rate per Rate 

Fatality (Baseline = VMT 100 Million (Baseline = 

Year Count 1996) (billions) VMT 1996) 

1996 32,437 Baseline 2,286 1.42 Baseline 

1997 32,448 0.0 2,353 1.38 -2.9 

1998 31,899 -1.7 2,418 1.32 -7.1 

1999 32,127 -1.0 2,470 1.30 -8.4 

2000 32,225 -0.7 2,523 1.28 -10.1 

2001 32,043 -1.2 2,572 1.25 -12.2 

2002 32,843 1.3 2,625 1.25 -11.9 

2003 32,271 -0.5 2,656 1.21 -14.4 

2004 31,866 -1.8 2,727 1.17 -17.7 

2005 31,415 -3.2 2,750 1.14 -19.5 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities 

In 2005, the number of passenger vehicle occupant fatalities in the United States totaled 31,415. 

This was a 3.2-percent decrease compared to the 1996 fatality count of 32,437. The fatality 

counts in Table 2 represent fatalities among occupants of passenger vehicles. These counts do 

not include fatalities to motorcycle riders, large-truck occupants, bus occupants, pedestrians, or 

pedalcyclists. Passenger vehicles are comprised of passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, pickups, 

and vans. 

While the number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by passenger vehicles increased 20 percent 

from 2,286 to 2,750 billion miles traveled, the fatality rate per 100 million VMT declined 19.5 

percent from 1.42 in 1996 to 1.14 in 2005. These trends can be seen below in Table 2 and 

Figures 4, 5, and 6. The 19.5-percent decline in the passenger vehicle occupant fatality rate, as 

shown in Table 2, is larger than the 14.2-percent decline seen in the overall fatality rate in Table 

1. 

The trend in motorcycle fatalities represents a large portion of the difference between the 3.3­

percent increase seen in overall fatality counts in Table 1 and the 3.2-percent decrease seen in 

passenger vehicle occupant fatality counts in Table 2. The number of motorcycle fatalities has 

more than doubled from 2,161 in 1996 to 4,553 in 2005. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 11 
Figure 4 

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities, by Year 

31,000 

31,500 

32,000 

32,500 

33,000 

33,500 

34,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatality Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005, FARS 1996-2005 

Figure 5 

Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year 

1.0 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

1.5 

1.6 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatality Rate Per 100 Million

VMT 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

Figure 6 

Percent Change in Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatality Rate per 100 Million VMT, 

By Year, Baseline=1996

-24.0 

-20.0 

-16.0 

-12.0 

-8.0 

-4.0 

0.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Percent Change in Fatality 

Rate 

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 12 
Table 3 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Fatal Crashes, 

Fatal Crash Count, and Fatalities, by Year 

Number 

Non- Percent Percent Number 

Fatally Change in Non- Change in Fatally 

Injured in Fatal Injury Fatal Fatal Crash Injured in 

Fatal Count crash Count Fatal 

Year Crashes (Baseline=1996) count (Baseline=1996) Crashes 

1996 39,243 Baseline 37,494 Baseline 42,065 

1997 38,764 -1.2 37,324 -0.5 42,013 

1998 38,138 -2.8 37,107 -1.0 41,501 

1999 37,607 -4.2 37,140 -0.9 41,717 

2000 37,496 -4.5 37,526 0.1 41,945 

2001 37,489 -4.5 37,862 1.0 42,196 

2002 37,103 -5.5 38,491 2.7 43,005 

2003 36,712 -6.4 38,477 2.6 42,884 

2004 36,090 -8.0 38,444 2.5 42,836 

2005 34,784 -11.4 39,189 4.5 43,443 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Surviving Occupants Injured in Fatal Crashes 

Figure 1 showed that the number of fatalities increased 3.3 percent from 1996 to 2005. However, 

the number of non-fatal injuries in fatal crashes went down during this time period. In 2005, 

34,784 people were non-fatally injured in a fatal crash, compared to 39,243 people in 1996 (see 

Table 3 and Figure 7). This reduction in non-fatal injuries among occupants in fatal crashes 

amounts to an 11.4-percent decline from 1996 to 2005 (see Table 3). This drop occurred despite 

the fact that the number of fatal crashes increased 4.5 percent from 37,494 in 1996 to 39,189 in 

2005, as shown in Table 3 and Figure 8. These trends suggest that the likelihood of surviving a 

fatal crash increased during that time period. 

Note: For ease of comparison, the annual fatality counts from Table 1 on page 10 were copied 

and placed in the far right column of Table 3 below, and the corresponding Figure 1 was 

recopied and named Figure 9. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 13 
Figure 7 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Fatal Crashes, by Year 

34,000 

35,000 

36,000 

37,000 

38,000 

39,000 

40,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants 

In Fatal Crashes 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

Figure 8 

Fatal Crashes, by Year 

36,500 

37,000 

37,500 

38,000 

38,500 

39,000 

39,500 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatal Crash Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

Figure 9 

Fatalities, by Year 

41,000 

41,500 

42,000 

42,500 

43,000 

43,500 

44,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Fatality Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 14
More evidence that points to an improvement in vehicles can be seen by looking at non-injured 

occupants in passenger vehicles in fatal crashes. From 1996 through 2005, the number of 

passenger vehicles that had exactly two occupants and at least one fatality declined by 7.9 

percent. However, despite this 7.9-percent decrease in the vehicle count, the number of noninjured occupants in these vehicles increased by 4.1 percent; thus the proportion of non-injured 

occupants in these crashes increased by 13.0 percent. 

An increase in restraint use is likely to be a major reason for the rise in the portion of non-injured 

occupants in fatal crashes. From 1996 to 2005, the percent of surviving passenger vehicle 

occupants who were restrained in fatal crashes climbed from 56 percent to 70 percent. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 15 
Table 4 

Non-Fatally Injured and Injury Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year

Percent 

Change in Percent 

Number Injury rate Change in 

Injured per 100 Injury Rate 

Injured (Baseline = VMT Million (Baseline = 

Year Count 1996) (billions) VMT 1996) 

1996 3,332,000 Baseline 2,486 134 Baseline 

1997 3,201,000 -3.9 2,562 125 -6.8 

1998 3,061,000 -8.1 2,632 116 -13.2 

1999 3,097,000 -7.1 2,691 115 -14.1 

2000 3,055,000 -8.3 2,747 111 -17.0 

2001 2,901,000 -12.9 2,797 104 -22.6 

2002 2,800,000 -16.0 2,856 98 -26.9 

2003 2,764,000 -17.0 2,890 96 -28.6 

2004 2,670,000 -19.9 2,965 90 -32.8 

2005 2,581,000 -22.5 2,990 86 -35.6 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

Non-Fatal Injuries in GES Crashes 

Table 3 shows that there was an 11.4-percent decline in the number of non-fatal injuries in fatal 

crashes since 1996. By comparison, Table 4, below, provides information on non-fatal crashes 

from the GES database. The number of injuries in these non-fatal crashes declined 22.5 percent, 

from 3,332,000 in 1996 to 2,581,000 in 2005 (see Figure 10). The injury rate per 100 million 

VMT shown in Table 4 is calculated using the same VMT exposure data as listed in Table 1. 

This injury rate was reduced by 35.6 percent, from 134 in 1996 to 86 in 2005 (see Figures 11 and 

12). 

The National Occupant Protection Use Survey (NOPUS) shows that estimated restraint use 

climbed from 61 percent in 1996 to 82 percent in 2005 (NOPUS 2005). This increase in restraint 

use, as well as improvements in vehicle safety, is likely to be a major contributor to the decline 

in injuries seen in Table 4 below. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 16 
Figure 10 

Non-Fatally Injured, by Year 

2,000,000 

2,400,000 

2,800,000 

3,200,000 

3,600,000 

4,000,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Injury Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 11 

Injury Rate per 100 Million VMT, by Year 

60 

80 

100 

120 

140 

160 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Injured Rate Per 100 Million

VMT 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

Figure 12 

Percent Change in Injury Rate per 100 Million VMT, 

By Year, Baseline=1996 

-45.0 

-35.0 

-25.0 

-15.0 

-5.0 

5.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Percent Change in Injury Rate

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 and FHWA, VMT data 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 17 
Table 5 

Percent Change in State Data System Injuries, 

As Calculated Through a Fixed Effects Model, by Year 

Year 

Percent Change in SDS Injuries, as Calculated Through 

A Fixed-Effects Model, (Baseline = 1996) 

1996 Baseline 

1997 -2.3 

1998 -5.7 

1999 -7.0 

2000 -4.8 

2001 -6.5 

2002 -6.8 

2003 -9.1 

2004 -8.6 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

Non-Fatal Injuries in SDS Crashes 

The injury counts that were displayed in Table 4 represent the entire Nation, as measured by the 

GES database. Another database that provides injury counts is the State Data System (SDS). 

Twenty-five States in the SDS had data available for some or all of the years from 1996 through 

2004. A fixed-effects statistical model for longitudinal data analysis was used to aggregate the 

available State-years of data from 24 of these States into one model. The 24 States used for the 

model are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, 

Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, 

Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 

State data from Ohio was not included due to coding issues that are discussed in the Limitations 

section of this report. 

Table 5 shows the results of the fixed-effects model in calculating the percent decline in injury 

counts seen from 1996 through 2004 in the SDS database. This model calculated that SDS 

injuries declined by 8.6 percent, as shown in Figure 13. By comparison, the injury count in the 

GES database declined 19.9 percent during that time period (shown in Table 4). Please note that 

the following section in this report (beginning on page 21) stratifies these SDS and GES declines 

in injury counts into three levels of injury severity. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 18 
Table 6 

Injuries by State, Among SDS States with Data for 1996 through 2004 

Year Florida Maryland Montana New Mexico 

1996 243,320 69,142 10,683 31,263 

1997 240,001 65,553 10,694 29,645 

1998 241,863 60,596 10,061 28,096 

1999 232,225 60,153 10,466 24,230 

2000 231,588 59,032 10,805 27,380 

2001 234,600 59,891 9,002 27,536 

2002 229,611 59,861 10,089 26,441 

2003 221,639 59,537 9,650 25,414 

2004 227,192 56,658 9,263 26,481 

Percent change 

from 1996 to 2004 -6.6 -18.1 -13.3 -15.3 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

Figure 13 

Percent Change in State Data System Injuries, 

As Calculated Through a Fixed Effects Model, by Year 

-20.0 

-15.0 

-10.0 

-5.0 

0.0 

5.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Year 

Percent Change in SDS

Injuries 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

Table 5 and Figure 13 display the percentage change in injury counts since 1996 as modeled in 

24 SDS States. Below in Table 6 are the injury counts for the four States in the SDS that have 

consistent data for all nine of the years from 1996 through 2004 (Florida, Maryland, Montana, 

and New Mexico). Each of these States experienced a significant decline in injury counts, 

ranging from 6.6 percent in Florida to 18.1 percent in Maryland. Although Ohio collected State 

data for the years 1996 through 2004, it is not included in Table 6, due to data coding issues that 

are discussed in the Limitations section of this report. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 19 
Table 7 

Percent Change in Injuries, by Injury Severity, 

Database and Period of Time 

Percent Change in 

SDS Injury Count 

from 1996 to 2004, 

as Calculated 

Through Fixed 

Percent Change 

in GES Injury 

Count from 1996 

Percent Change 

in GES Injury 

Count from 1996 

Injury Severity Effects Model to 2004 to 2005 

Total -8.6 -19.9 -22.5 

Incapacitating -24.6 -27.6 -27.7 

Non-incapacitating -7.4 -18.9 -20.5 

Possible -6.8 -19.0 -22.7 

Incapacitating + 

Non-incapacitating -11.8 -21.6 -22.8 

Non-incapacitating 

+ Possible -7.0 -18.9 -22.0 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005, SDS 1996-2004 

Injury Severity 

The injury counts in the State Data System are categorized into the following severities: 

incapacitating, non-incapacitating, and possible. These three injury severity categories are listed 

in decreasing order of level of injury severity. Table 7 shows that from 1996 to 2004, the fixed 

effects model found the decline in SDS injuries to be 8.6 percent. After stratifying the SDS 

injuries by injury severity, it was determined that the incapacitating injury count dropped 24.6 

percent, while non-incapacitating injuries declined 7.4 percent, and possible injuries fell 6.8 

percent, from 1996 to 2004. When aggregating the incapacitating and non-incapacitating 

injuries, the decline was 11.8 percent, while non-incapacitating and possible injuries combined 

fell 7.0 percent (see Table 7). 

The percentage changes in the GES injury counts for these injury severity categories are also 

included in Table 7. The middle column displays the overall percentage changes for the years 

1996 through 2004, to be consistent with the available years of data in the State Data System. 

The far right column shows the GES percentage changes from 1996 to 2005, as the 2005 GES 

data was available at the time of this report. A graph of the SDS and GES percentage changes 

from 1996 through 2004 is shown below in Figure 14. The GES injury counts for each year 

from 1996 through 2005, as used to produce the results in Table 7, are included in Table 8 and 

Figure 15. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 20 
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 21 

Table 8 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

Year 

INJURY SEVERITY 

Total

Incapacitating 

(A) 

NonIncapacitating (B) Possible 

Injury (C) 

1996 395,000 879,000 1,998,000 3,332,000 

1997 382,000 856,000 1,901,000 3,201,000 

1998 363,000 783,000 1,856,000 3,061,000 

1999 375,000 805,000 1,907,000 3,097,000 

2000 368,000 805,000 1,863,000 3,055,000 

2001 338,000 740,000 1,807,000 2,901,000 

2002 333,000 763,000 1,681,000 2,800,000 

2003 290,000 761,000 1,684,000 2,764,000 

2004 286,000 713,000 1,619,000 2,670,000 

2005 286,000 698,000 1,545,000 2,581,000 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Note: Total includes injuries of unknown severity. Counts are rounded to the nearest thousand. 

Figure 15 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

500,000 

1,000,000 

1,500,000 

2,000,000 

2,500,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 14 

Percent Change in Injuries, by Injury Severity 

And Database, From 1996 Through 2004 

-40 

-30 

-20 

-10 

0 

10 

Total Incap Non-incap Poss 

Incap + Nonincap Non-incap + 

Poss 

Injury S everity 

Percent Change in Injury

Count 

SDS Injury Count GES Injury Count 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2004, SDS 1996-2004 
NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 22 

Figure 16 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Fatal Crashes, by Injury Severity and Year

0 

4,000 

8,000 

12,000 

16,000 

20,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Table 9 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Fatal Crashes, by Injury Severity and Year 

INJURY SEVERITY 

Incapacitating Non- Possible Injury Year Total (A) Incapacitating (B) (C) 

1996 17,250 13,596 8,171 39,243 

1997 17,087 13,607 7,891 38,764 

1998 16,177 13,692 8,072 38,138 

1999 15,460 13,958 7,903 37,607 

2000 15,415 13,826 7,946 37,496 

2001 14,837 13,781 8,586 37,489 

2002 14,651 13,846 8,488 37,103 

2003 13,784 13,982 8,729 36,712 

2004 13,958 13,417 8,447 36,090 

2005 12,945 13,208 8,396 34,784 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Note: Total includes injuries of unknown severity. 

As expected, the shift in injury severity distribution among injured survivors of fatal crashes was 

different than injured survivors of GES and SDS non-fatal crashes, given that the fatal crashes 

are on average more severe crashes than the non-fatal crashes. From 1996 to 2005, the annual 

FARS count of incapacitating injuries dropped 25.0 percent, while non-incapacitating injuries 

declined only 2.9 percent, and possible injuries rose 2.8 percent (see Table 9 and Figure 16). 

The years of 2003 and 2005 were the first times that incapacitating injuries were not the most 

common non-fatal injury severity among fatal crashes. The count of less severe nonincapacitating injuries was higher than the count of incapacitating injuries during these years, as 

shown in Table 9 and Figure 16. 

These trends display a clear shift in the distribution of non-fatal injury severities among fatal 

crashes, from more severe injuries to injuries of lesser severity. This shift is another example of 

the benefits seen from the increase in restraint use and the improvements in vehicle safety. 
Table 10 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Fatal Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

Year 

INJURY SEVERITY 

Total Incapacitating 

(A) 

Non-Incapacitating 

(B) 

Possible Injury 

(C) 

1996 10,621 8,488 5,308 24,417 

1997 10,697 8,588 5,144 24,429 

1998 9,907 8,422 5,127 23,456 

1999 9,352 8,446 5,013 22,811 

2000 9,201 8,458 4,980 22,639 

2001 8,838 8,332 5,507 22,677 

2002 8,770 8,463 5,454 22,687 

2003 8,243 8,525 5,589 22,357 

2004 8,170 8,185 5,537 21,892 

2005 7,481 7,842 5,319 20,642 

Percent Change 

from 1996 to 2005 -29.6 -7.6 0.2 -15.5 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Impact Point 

Among both fatal and non-fatal crashes, the principal impact point of the crash (front, right side, 

left side, rear) did not play a significant role in the temporal changes in the injury severity 

distribution from 1996 through 2005. Table 10 and Figure 17 are for non-fatally injured 

occupants in front impact fatal crashes from the FARS database. Table 11 and Figure 18 are for 

front impact non-fatal crashes from the GES database. These tables and charts stratify the 

injured occupants in front impact crashes by injury severity. While only tables and charts for 

front impact crashes are presented in this Impact Point section, corresponding charts for right 

side impact, left side impact, and rear impact crashes are presented in the Appendix. 

The three-year period from 2003 through 2005 was the first time that incapacitating injuries were 

not the most common non-fatal injury severity among front impact fatal crashes. The number of 

non-incapacitating and incapacitating injuries was nearly equal among side impact fatal crashes 

in 2005. In front, rear, and side impact fatal crashes, the incapacitating injury count declined 

significantly from 1996 through 2005. In rear impact fatal crashes, the incapacitating injury was 

the least likely injury to take place for each year since 1999. 

Displayed below are Table 10 and Figure 17 for fatal crashes where the impact occurred on the 

front side of the vehicle. Figure 17 shows the significant decline in incapacitating injuries in 

frontal crashes from 1996 through 2005, while the injuries of lesser severity showed far less 

change during that time. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 23 
Table 11 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

Year 

INJURY SEVERITY 

Total Incapacitating 

(A) 

NonIncapacitating (B) Possible Injury 

(C) 

1996 197,487 463,517 750,778 1,411,782 

1997 195,047 449,744 735,530 1,380,321 

1998 174,836 413,345 721,760 1,309,941 

1999 204,353 448,300 805,741 1,458,394 

2000 181,033 425,054 712,743 1,318,830 

2001 166,146 386,765 712,743 1,265,654 

2002 163,548 391,349 658,126 1,213,023 

2003 148,594 389,093 664,509 1,202,196 

2004 142,517 367,686 668,084 1,178,288 

2005 145,928 360,368 648,505 1,154,801 

Percent 

Change from 

1996 to 2005 -26.1 -22.3 -13.6 -18.2 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 17 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Fatal Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

2,000 

4,000 

6,000 

8,000 

10,000 

12,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

For non-fatal crashes, the injury severity trends over time were similar for all impact points. For 

front, rear, and side impact crashes, the counts of all levels of injury severity (incapacitating, 

non-incapacitating, and possible injuries) declined significantly from 1996 to 2005. Table 11 

and Figure 18, shown below, are for non-fatal frontal crashes, as measured through the GES 

database. Despite a 1999 increase in the injury counts for all injury severities, the injury counts 

for non-fatal frontal crashes fell significantly from 1996 through 2005. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 24 
Figure 18 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

200,000 

400,000 

600,000 

800,000 

1,000,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 25 
Table 12 

Non-Fatal Injury Rate per Fatal Crash, by Year

Number 

Non-Fatally Non-Fatal Percent Change in 

Injured in Injury Rate Non-Fatal Injury Rate 

Fatal Fatal crash per Fatal per Fatal Crash 

Year Crashes count Crash (Baseline=1996) 

1996 39,243 37,494 1.05 Baseline 

1997 38,764 37,324 1.04 -0.8 

1998 38,138 37,107 1.03 -1.8 

1999 37,607 37,140 1.01 -3.3 

2000 37,496 37,526 1.00 -4.5 

2001 37,489 37,862 0.99 -5.4 

2002 37,103 38,491 0.96 -7.9 

2003 36,712 38,477 0.95 -8.8 

2004 36,090 38,444 0.94 -10.3 

2005 34,784 39,189 0.89 -15.2 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005 

Injury Rates per Crash 

This report provides extensive information on injury counts in the FARS, GES, and SDS 

databases, and shows that the non-fatal injury counts in all three of these databases have declined 

since 1996. To put these declines in perspective, this section shows a calculation of injury rates 

per crash, for each database. The numerator of these rates is the number of injuries, as shown 

previously in this report. The denominator of these rates is the number of crashes. 

The non-fatal injury rate per crash is lowest in FARS fatal crashes because this injury rate only 

measures non-fatal injuries, and thus excludes the large percentage of fatally injured occupants in 

the FARS fatal crashes. The injury rate for FARS crashes is approximately 1.0 non-fatal injury 

per crash. As expected, the injury rates for GES and SDS non-fatal crashes are higher, since 

there are more surviving occupants in these non-fatal crashes who are injured but not fatally 

injured. The injury rate for GES non-fatal crashes is quite similar to the injury rate for SDS nonfatal crashes, with both rates being approximately 1.5 injuries per crash. The trends in injury 

rates for each database are discussed below. 

In Table 12, the number of non-fatally injured passengers in fatal crashes is divided by the 

number of fatal crashes, to calculate a non-fatal injury rate per fatal crash. This rate declined 15 

percent from 1.05 in 1996 to 0.89 in 2005, as shown in Figures 19 and 20. The rate decline in 

injuries per fatal crash is due to both the reduction in injured occupants along with the increase in 

fatal crashes, which is shown below in Table 12. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 26 
Figure 19 

Non-Fatal Injury Rate per Fatal Crash, by Year 

0.80 

0.85 

0.90 

0.95 

1.00 

1.05 

1.10 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Injury Rate Per Crash 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

Figure 20 

Percent Change in Non-Fatal Injury Rate per Fatal Crash, 

By Year, Baseline=1996 

-18.0 

-15.0 

-12.0 

-9.0 

-6.0 

-3.0 

0.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Percent Change in Injury 

Rate Per Fatal Crash

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 27
Table 13 

GES Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, by Year

Number 

Non-Fatally 

Injured in Percent Change in 

GES GES Crash Injury Rate Injury Rate per Crash 

Year Crashes count per Crash (Baseline=1996) 

1996 3,332,000 2,238,000 1.49 Baseline 

1997 3,201,000 2,149,000 1.49 0.0 

1998 3,061,000 2,029,000 1.51 -1.3 

1999 3,097,000 2,054,000 1.51 -1.3 

2000 3,055,000 2,070,000 1.48 -0.9 

2001 2,901,000 2,003,000 1.45 -2.7 

2002 2,800,000 1,929,000 1.45 -2.5 

2003 2,764,000 1,925,000 1.44 -3.6 

2004 2,670,000 1,862,000 1.43 -3.7 

2005 2,581,000 1,816,000 1.42 -4.5 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

The injury rate in non-fatal GES crashes is shown in Table 13. This rate is equal to the number of 

GES injuries divided by the number of GES crashes where someone was injured. Note that 

property damage only (PDO) crashes are not included in this section or any other section of this 

report. 

While it has been previously shown in Table 4 of this report that the number of injuries declined, 

Table 13 also shows that the number of non-fatal injury crashes also declined, from 2,238,000 in 

1996 to 1,816,000 in 2005, a drop of 19 percent. The injury rate calculated here declined 4.5 

percent from 1.49 in 1996 to 1.42 in 2005. Table 13 shows that while the injury counts and the 

crash counts both dropped, the number of injuries dropped faster than the number of crashes 

since 1999. The injury rate per crash fell from 1.51 in 1999 to 1.42 in 2005, a decline of 5.7 

percent. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 28 
Figure 21 

GES Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, by Year 

1.20 

1.30 

1.40 

1.50 

1.60 

1.70 

1.80 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Injury Rate Per Crash 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 22 

Percent Change in GES Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, 

By Year, Baseline=1996 

-6.0 

-4.5 

-3.0 

-1.5 

0.0 

1.5 

3.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Percent Change in Injury 

Rate Per Fatal Crash

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 29
Table 14 

SDS Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, by Year

Year 

SDS Injury Rate per 

Non-Fatal Crash 

Percent Change in Injury Rate 

per Crash (Baseline=1996) 

1996 1.58 Baseline 

1997 1.58 -0.1 

1998 1.57 -0.7 

1999 1.57 -1.0 

2000 1.56 -1.6 

2001 1.54 -2.3 

2002 1.52 -3.9 

2003 1.52 -3.7 

2004 1.53 -3.2 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

Table 14 shows the injury rate per crash measured within the State Data System database. This 

rate is equal to the number of SDS injuries divided by the number of SDS crashes where 

someone was injured. These non-fatal crashes had an injury rate per crash that was quite similar 

to the GES non-fatal crashes. Table 14 and Figures 23 and 24 show that the SDS injury rate 

dropped from 1.58 in 1996 to 1.53 in 2004, a reduction of 3.2 percent. Note that the SDS data 

was not available for 2005 at the time of this report. 

The State data injury counts and crash counts are not included in Table 14 because of the varying 

State-years of data available for different States in the State Data System. This inconsistency is 

due to the time when the State joined the State Data System, as well as the different times that 

each State processes and delivers the data to NHTSA. 

When comparing Table 13 and Table 14, it is clear that the injury rates per crash were, as 

expected, quite similar in both the GES and SDS databases. It is important to remember that the 

GES database represents a weighted count of crashes throughout the entire United States, while 

the SDS database is a measure of all available years of data from the States that provided data for 

some or all of the years from 1996 through 2004. 

Figure 23 

SDS Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, by Year 

1.48 

1.50 

1.52 

1.54 

1.56 

1.58 

1.60 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Year 

Injury Rate Per Crash 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 30 
Figure 24 

Percent Change in SDS Injury Rate per Non-Fatal Crash, 

By Year, Baseline=1996 

-4.8 

-4.0 

-3.2 

-2.4 

-1.6 

-0.8 

0.0 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Year 

Percent Change in Injury 

Rate Per Fatal Crash

Baseline = 1996 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 31 
VI. Discussion 

This report was designed to examine trends in motor vehicle nonfatal injury counts over the last 

decade, with the utilization of three separate databases. The percentage decline in overall 

nonfatal injuries from 1996 through 2005 was calculated to be 23 percent in the GES database, 9 

percent in the SDS database, and 11 percent in the FARS fatal crash database. 

In addition to the fact that the three different databases each show significant overall declines in 

injuries over the last decade, attention should be placed on how these estimates of the decline in 

injuries vary when stratified by injury severity. The largest reduction in injuries occurred among 

incapacitating injuries, which is the most severe nonfatal injury category. Each database showed 

a reduction of 25 to 28 percent in incapacitating injuries. The percentage decline in less severe 

injuries was smaller for each database. 

The fact that the largest percent decline in the injury counts occurred within the most severe 

injury category provides evidence about the many improvements in vehicle safety and driver and 

passenger behavior that have taken place in the last decade. This evidence suggests that these 

improvements provide the greatest safety benefit toward reducing the number of incapacitating 

injuries (i.e. traumatic brain injury, broken bone), compared to reducing the injuries of least 

severity (i.e. scrapes, cuts, and minor bruises). These improvements in vehicle safety and 

occupant behavior include, but are not limited to, an increased use of seat belts and child safety 

seats; reductions in drunk driving; as well as an expansion throughout the vehicle fleet of air 

bags, antilock brakes, and electronic stability control. 

Additional research related to motor vehicle traffic trends over time has been completed in many 

different countries. Examples of this research include the following analyses of traffic in the 

United States, Australia, Great Britain, and France. 

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety analyzed passenger vehicle driver death rates per 

million vehicle registrations for the years 1985 through 2004 (Farmer and Lund, 2006). These 

rates have dropped during this entire time period, and Farmer and Lund suggested that much of 

this drop can be attributed to vehicle design improvements. Furthermore, the report suggested 

that without these vehicle design improvements, the driver fatality risk would have risen since 

1993, and therefore more attention needs to be focused on improving roadway design and driver 

behavior. 

Researchers in Australia looked into the relationship between vehicle age and risk of a car crash 

injury. This case-control study (Blows et al., 2003) measured the hospitalization or death of a 

vehicle occupant due to a car crash injury. The study conducted in New Zealand in 1999 found 

that after adjusting for potential confounders, vehicles constructed before 1984 were 2.88 times 

more likely to be involved in an injury crash than were vehicles constructed after 1994. These 

data provide evidence that vehicle improvements have contributed to reduced traffic injuries. 

As seen in the United States, the injury counts in Great Britain declined significantly from 1996 

to 2004, while the fatality counts in Great Britain changed very little (Broughton and Walter, 

2007). The Co-operative Crash Injury Study analyzed vehicle crashes in Great Britain and 

determined that the proportion of crashes that were “unsurvivable” did not change between 1994 

and 2004. They also concluded that while analyses of the use of restraint devices provided 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 32 
valuable information, it did not explain the divergence of the trends in fatal crashes and serious 

injury crashes. 

Between 2002 and 2005, the number of fatalities in France dropped 30 percent, as the average 

speed of travel was reduced by 7.2 percent (ONISR 2007). This is one of many examples that 

show the direct relationship between a decline in travel speed and a decline in injury counts. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 33 
Table 15 

Ohio Injuries, by Injury Severity, Comparing 1999 and 2000 

State Data on Injury Severity From Ohio 

1999 2000 

Categories Counts Categories Counts 

Serious visible incapacitating 

Injury 8,391 Incapacitating injury 10,856 

Minor visible injury 59,425 Non-incapacitating injury 60,945 

No visible injury 137,242 Possible injury 94,987 

Non-fatal injury SUBTOTAL 205,058 Non-fatal injury SUBTOTAL 166,788 

Fatal Injury 1,430 Fatal Injury 1,361 

Not stated 62,949 Unknown 44,087 

Total 269,437 Total 212,236 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS (Ohio) 1999-2000 

VII. Limitations 

At the time of this report, the State Data System (SDS) collected data from 30 States, and this 

data was coded differently in many States. While the trend has been toward uniformity of the 

police crash reports from each State, that uniformity is not complete at the time of this report. In 

addition, some States changed their police crash reports during the years which are analyzed in 

this report, and these changes affect GES and SDS injury counts. In only one State did the 

change appear to significantly affect injury coding. 

One change in a State’s police crash report occurred in Ohio, where the categories of many 

variables were adjusted from 1999 to 2000. The variable for injury severity changed its 

categories, and this could have played a role in the large drop in Ohio injury counts from 1999 to 

2000, as shown in Table 15 and Figure 25. 

Figure 25 

Ohio Injuries, by Injury Severity, 1999 and 2000 

Ohio Injury Count 

8,391 

137,242 

10,856 

94,987 

44,087 

59,425 62,949 60,945 

Serious 

visible 

Minor 

visible 

No 

visible 

Not 

stated 

Incap NonIncap Poss Unk 

1999 2000 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS (Ohio) 1999-2000 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 34 
In 2000, the category “no visible injury” was replaced with “possible injury,” and the injury 

count from those comparable categories dropped from 137,242 in 1999 to 94,987 in 2000, and to 

71,993 in 2001, a reduction of nearly 50 percent. The possible injury count remained relatively 

constant from 2001 through 2004. The “unknown” category was first introduced in 2000. In 

1999, there were 62,949 police crash reports where the injury severity variable was not coded, 

shown in Table 15 as “not stated,” and only 44,087 injuries coded as “unknown” in 2000. 

The drop in the total Ohio injury count from 205,058 in 1999 to 166,788 in 2000 (and then to 

138,847 in 2001) is likely to be associated with the change in injury severity categories that took 

place on the 2000 Ohio State police crash report. 

In addition to the drop seen in the Ohio injury counts, the number of non-fatal injury crashes in 

Ohio also dropped significantly during the years 1999 through 2001. The number of crashes 

where a non-fatal injury occurred declined from 121,755 in 1999, to 106,090 in 2000, to 95,389 

in 2001, a drop of over 25,000 crashes, or 22 percent, in two years. The injury rate per crash in 

Ohio fell from 1.68 in 1999, to 1.57 in 2000, to 1.46 in 2001, a drop much larger than the drop 

seen in other SDS States during that time period. The number of crashes and the injury rate per 

crash in Ohio changed very little between 2001 through 2004. 

Figure 26 displays the injury counts for Ohio and the other four States in the State Data System 

that had data available for all years from 1996 through 2004. These other four States showed a 

decline in injuries from 1996 through 2004 that ranged from 6.6 percent in Florida to 18.1 

percent in Maryland (see Table 6). Figure 26 shows that the 37.4-percent decline in injuries seen 

in Ohio from 1996 through 2004 is due mostly to the drop in injury counts from 1999 to 2001. 

After 2001 the Ohio injury count remained relatively stable from 2002 through 2004 (see Figure 

26). 

Figure 26 

State Injuries, Among SDS States with Data for 1996 through 2004 

0 

50,000 

100,000 

150,000 

200,000 

250,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 

Year 

Injury Count 

Florida 

Maryland 

Montana 

New Mexico 

Ohio 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, SDS 1996-2004 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 35 
If the injury data from Ohio were included in the fixed effects model whose results are shown in 

Table 7, then the decline in total injuries would have been 17.0 percent, rather than the 8.6­

percent decline that was calculated after Ohio was removed from the fixed effects model. 

Injury severity coding for the police crash reports of many States were investigated over the 

years from 1996 through 2004. This change in the Ohio police crash report had by far the largest 

impact in injury counts that was associated with a State police crash report coding change. 

In order to improve the uniformity of State data coding, NHTSA has established the Model 

Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). The purpose of MMUCC is to help States 

produce motor vehicle crash data that can be properly aggregated between States. MMUCC 

represents a voluntary and collaborative effort to generate uniform crash data that are accurate, 

reliable, and credible for data-driven highway safety decisions within a State, between States, 

and at the national level. MMUCC recommends voluntary implementation of a "minimum set" 

of standardized data elements to promote comparability of data within the highway safety 

community. The implementation of MMUCC will help all States work together to contribute 

data that can lead to safer highway travel. 

A different type of limitation was seen in Illinois State data, where incomplete data collection led 

to an injury count in 1996 that was quite different from adjacent years. Illinois had 151,642 

injuries recorded in 1995 and 129,927 injuries in 1997, but the injury count for 1996 was a much 

smaller 66,051. The 1996 injury count was replaced with the average of the 1995 and 1997 

injury counts, as a means to prevent the fixed effects model from being highly impacted by the 

1996 data collection errors. 

It is possible that an increase in police officer time constraints has lead to less coding of minor 

injuries in many States. This could impact the injury counts within the GES and SDS databases. 

It would take extensive efforts to test that hypothesis and therefore this potential limitation was 

not explored within this report. Also, even if the coding of minor injuries has dropped, this does 

not explain the large drop in incapacitating injuries seen in Tables 7, 8, and 9. 

This report does not attempt to answer the question of why the safety advancements that have 

been made in motor vehicle traffic are leading to a larger percentage reduction in injury rates 

(see Table 4) as compared with the declines seen in fatality rates (see Table 1). This issue will 

be examined in future NHTSA reports. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 36 
VIII. Conclusion 

An analysis of three major NHTSA databases shows that a significant decline in non-fatal motor 

vehicle injuries occurred from 1996 through 2005. A significant decline had been observed in 

the GES database, and this decline has been validated through an analysis which included two 

additional NHTSA databases. These three databases show a decrease of 25 to 28 percent in the 

average number of people suffering incapacitating injuries each year due to motor vehicle 

crashes. An incapacitating injury is a category of injury severity that represents the most severe 

non-fatal injuries, as coded by law enforcement officers on police crash reports. 

This report examined the trend in non-fatal motor vehicle injuries over the ten-year period from 

1996 through 2005. Data was individually analyzed from the three largest NHTSA crash 

databases: FARS, GES, and SDS. During that time period, a significant reduction was seen in 

the incapacitating injury counts as well as the overall non-fatal injury counts in each of the three 

databases. In addition to the estimated declines in the GES and SDS overall annual injury counts 

of 23 percent and 9 percent, respectively, an 11-percent drop in non-fatal injuries was seen in the 

FARS database of fatal crashes. 

In the FARS, GES, and SDS databases, the estimated annual number of incapacitating injuries 

fell by 25 percent, 28 percent, and 25 percent respectively. This trend suggests that the improved 

safety equipment and occupant behavior that limits fatalities may be even more effective in 

reducing serious injuries. Among non-fatal crashes, the significant decline in annual injury 

counts has occurred among all injury severity levels (incapacitating, non-incapacitating, and 

possible injuries); comparatively, in fatal crashes, 90 percent of the reduction in non-fatal injury 

counts is seen among incapacitating injuries. 

The years of 2003 and 2005 were the first times that incapacitating injuries were not the most 

common non-fatal injuries among fatal crashes. The count of less severe non-incapacitating 

injuries climbed higher than the count of incapacitating injuries during each of these two years. 

In each of the FARS, GES, and SDS databases, the rate of injuries per crash was also examined. 

The number of non-fatal crashes where a person was injured declined in GES and SDS, while an 

even larger percentage decline was seen in number of injuries from these crashes. These two 

concurrent trends led to a decline in the rate of injuries per crash of five percent in GES and three 

percent in SDS. In FARS, there was a 15-percent drop in the rate of non-fatal injuries per crash. 

These findings clarify that the reduction in injury counts was due to both a drop in the number of 

injury-related crashes, as well as a drop in the rate of injuries per crash. 

These reductions in injury counts seen in FARS, GES, and SDS have taken place despite a 20­

percent increase in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the United States. This tremendous progress 

in traffic safety improvement is likely linked to increased restraint use, reductions in drunk 

driving, as well as an expansion throughout the vehicle fleet of air bags and electronic stability 

control. 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 37 
IX. Appendix 

Figures 27 – 30: FARS Non-Fatal Injuries, by Impact Point and Injury Severity 

Figure 27 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Fatal Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

2,000 

4,000 

6,000 

8,000 

10,000 

12,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

Figure 28 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Left-Side Impact Fatal Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

400 

800 

1,200 

1,600 

2,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 38
Figure 29 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Right-Side Impact Fatal Crashes,

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

500 

1,000 

1,500 

2,000 

2,500 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

Figure 30 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Rear Impact Fatal Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

200 

400 

600 

800 

1,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, FARS 1996-2005

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 39
Figures 31 - 34: GES Non-Fatal Injuries, by Impact Point and Injury Severity: 

Figure 31 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Front Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

200,000 

400,000 

600,000 

800,000 

1,000,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 32 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Left-Side Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

100,000 

200,000 

300,000 

400,000 

500,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 40
Figure 33 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Right-Side Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

100,000 

200,000 

300,000 

400,000 

500,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

Figure 34 

Non-Fatally Injured Occupants in Rear Impact Crashes, 

By Injury Severity and Year 

0 

200,000 

400,000 

600,000 

800,000 

1,000,000 

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 

Year 

Occupant Injury Count 

Incapacitating (A) Non-incapacitating (B) Possible Injury (C) 

Source: NCSA, NHTSA, GES 1996-2005 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 41
X. References 

Allison, P. (2006). Fixed Effects Regression Methods in SAS. Presented at the SAS Users Group 

International (SUGI) 31st Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA. 

Blows, S. et al. (2003). Vehicle year and the risk of car crash injury. Injury Prevention, 9, 353­

356. 

Broughton, J. and Walter, L. (2007). Trends in Fatal Car Accidents: Analyses of CCIS Data 

(TRL PPR172). Berkshire, United Kingdom: Transport Research Laboratory Limited. 

Farmer, C.M., and Lund, A.K. (2006). Trends Over Time in the Risk of Driver Death: What if 

Vehicle Designs Had Not Improved? Traffic Injury Prevention, 7(4), 335-342. 

FARS. 1996-2005 Coding and Validation Manual. Washington, DC: National Center for 

Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 

Transportation. 

FHWA. (2006). Federal Highway Administration annual estimates of vehicle miles traveled 

(VMT). 

GES. 1996-2004 Coding and Validation Manual. Washington, DC: National Center for Statistics 

and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, U.S. Department of 

Transportation. 

Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). www.mmucc.us 

NOPUS. (2005). Safety Belt Use in 2005 – Overall Results (DOT HS 809 932). Washington: 

DC: Author, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, National Highway Traffic Safety 

Administration. 

ONISR. (2007). Road Traffic Accidents With Bodily Injuries in France: Provisional Results for 

2006. France: Observatoire National Interministériel de Sécurité Routière. 

Links to State Data Systems Information 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/portal/site/nhtsa/menuitem.9fef9613e59b4dd24ec86e10dba046a0/ 

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/DOT/NHTSA/NCSA/Content/PDF/SDS_Usage.pdf 

NHTSA’s National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE., Washington, DC 20590 42 

DOT HS 810 944

May 2008