TRAFFIC SAFETY FACTS

Crash •Stats

DOT HS 812 185 Summary of Statistical Findings July 2015

Fatalities of Vehicle Nonoccupants in Wheelchairs 

Struck by Motor Vehicles

Summary

In 2013, there were 32,719 people killed in motor vehicle 

crashes in the United States. Of those people killed, 28 

were reported as seated in wheelchairs (0.09% of the total 

fatalities) when struck by motor vehicles. These people 

were not occupants of motor vehicles involved in the 

crashes and thus are considered nonoccupants. Only 13 

States reported fatalities to nonoccupants seated in wheelchairs in 2013. From 2007 to 2013, on average 28 people 

died every year (0.08% of the total fatalities) when seated 

in wheelchairs and struck during motor vehicle crashes.

Data and Limitations

The information on fatal traffic crashes is collected through 

the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 

Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). FARS is a census of fatal traffic crashes in the 50 States, the District of 

Columbia, and Puerto Rico (although Puerto Rico is not 

included in the U.S. totals). To be included in FARS, a 

crash must involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public, and must result in the 

death of an occupant of a vehicle or a nonoccupant within 

30 days of the crash.

To retrieve the wheelchair data from the FARS file, the 

search criteria include Person-Related Factors Restricted 

to Wheelchair and Motorized Wheelchair Rider; and NonMotorist Condition at the Time of the Crash Paraplegic or 

Restricted to Wheelchair. These codes were searched among 

all nonoccupants killed in crashes from 2007 to 2013. For 

more details on data retrieval, see the Appendix.

Data collection and police reporting with respect to information included in these FARS variables differ widely 

across police jurisdictions. Some jurisdictions have specific collection for wheelchairs while other jurisdictions 

do not capture that information directly, rather relying on 

the information in the narrative summaries of the crashes. 

Due to the variability in police crash reports across 

jurisdictions, there is potential for inconsistencies in the 

reporting in FARS. It is for this reason that the figures 

cited in this document are “reported” as nonoccupants 

in wheelchairs. The figures in this report may undercount wheelchair nonoccupants if police crash reports did 

not capture the presence of wheelchairs, and thus FARS 

would not contain that data either. For more information 

on the FARS data collection see the Appendix.

Results

The Nation lost 32,719 lives in 2013 from motor vehicle 

traffic crashes. Victims of those crashes include occupants 

of the vehicles involved in the crashes as well as people 

outside the vehicles struck during the crashes. In general, 

NHTSA data refer to people outside of the vehicles as 

nonoccupants, most often pedestrians and pedalcyclists. 

However, there are nonoccupants killed in motor vehicle 

crashes that are neither on foot nor on pedaled cycles, 

including people in wheelchairs. An individual seated 

in a wheelchair and struck during a motor vehicle traffic crash is counted in the “other nonoccupant” category, 

which is often grouped for purposes of presentation with 

nonoccupants of unknown status (unknown whether the 

victim was on foot, cycle, wheelchair, skateboard, etc.)

In 2013, there were 5,668 nonoccupants killed in motor 

vehicle crashes. There were 190 of these nonoccupants 

grouped into the other/unknown category. Of these, 28 

were reported as in wheelchairs at the time of the crashes.

For categories of fatalities with relatively smaller annual 

numbers, NHTSA presents the data as a yearly average, 

so as to avoid mistaking normal fluctuation for large 

shifts or trends. From 2007 to 2013, there were 194 people 

reported to have died as nonoccupants in wheelchairs. On 

average, therefore, 28 people died every year (0.08% of the 

total fatalities) in wheelchairs when struck during motor 

vehicle traffic crashes. Table 1 provides the annual counts 

of fatalities of nonoccupants in wheelchairs.

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

Total Killed and Nonoccupants in Wheelchairs Killed, by 

Year, 2007-2013

Year Total Killed

Nonoccupants in Wheelchairs Killed

Number Percentage of Total

2007 41,259 12 0.03%

2008 37,423 32 0.09%

2009 33,883 21 0.06%

2010 32,999 42 0.13%

2011 32,479 30 0.09%

2012 33,782 29 0.09%

2013 32,719 28 0.09%

2007–2013 244,544 194 0.08%

Source: Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2007–2012 Final File and 2013 

Annual Report File (ARF)

In 2013, only 13 States reported fatalities of nonoccupants 

in wheelchairs. The State with the largest number in 2013 

was California with 7 fatalities, followed by Tennessee 

with 5 fatalities. Eight States had one fatality each in 2013. 

From 2007 to 2013, there were 13 States that had no fatalities of nonoccupants in wheelchairs. Table 2 provides State 

breakdowns of data from 2007 to 2013.

Appendix

Data Retrieval

Data was retrieved beginning in 2007 because of the introduction of a separate attribute (within the Person Type 

variable) for Persons on Personal Conveyance in the available attributes for nonoccupants. This attribute identified 

people in wheelchairs separately, instead of including 

them in a broader category of “other” nonoccupants. Thus 

the data was retrieved from 2007 to the most recent year 

of available data. All fatalities of nonoccupants in wheelchairs from 2007 to 2013 appeared within the category 

Persons on Personal Conveyance.

Of additional note is a change of coding to specifically 

identify people in wheelchairs. FARS captures nonoccupants in wheelchairs in two elements, as discussed in the 

body of this Crash•Stat.

■ Person-Related Factors

◆ Restricted to Wheelchair (Code 12), from 1982–2009. 

After 2009, refer to Condition (Impairment) at the Time 

of the Crash

◆ Motorized Wheelchair Rider (Code 13), since 1998

■ Condition (Impairment) at the Time of Crash—since 2010

◆ Paraplegic or Restricted to Wheelchair (Code 4)

Data Collection

NHTSA has cooperative agreements with agencies in States 

to provide information on all qualifying fatal crashes in the 

States. These agreements are managed by NHTSA’s FARS 

program staff. The State employees who gather, translate, 

and transmit the data are called FARS analysts. The number of analysts in each State varies according to the State. 

NHTSA provides each FARS analyst with formal training.

FARS data are obtained solely from these State documents.

■ Police Accident Reports

■ State Vehicle Registration Files

■ State Driver Licensing Files

■ State Highway Department Data

■ Vital Records Department Data

■ Death Certificates

■ Coroner/Medical Examiner Reports

■ Emergency Medical Service Reports

■ Other State Records

From these documents, the analysts code more than 100 FARS 

data elements. The specific data elements may be modified 

slightly each year to conform to changing user needs, vehicle 

characteristics, and highway safety emphasis areas.

Suggested APA format citation for this report:

National Center for Statistics and Analysis. (2015, July). 

Fatalities of vehicle nonoccupants in wheelchairs struck by 

motor vehicles. (Traffic Safety Facts Crash•Stat. Report No. 

DOT HS 812  185). Washington, DC: National Highway 

Traffic Safety Administration.

This research note and other general information on 

highway traffic safety may be found at: www-nrd.

nhtsa.dot.gov/CATS/index.aspx

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

Nonoccupants in Wheelchairs (NOIWC) Killed, by State and Year, 2007-2013 

State

Year

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2007–2013

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Total 

Killed

NOIWC 

Killed

Alabama 1,110 0 969 0 848 0 862 0 895 0 865 0 852 0 6,401 0

Alaska 82 0 62 0 64 1 56 0 72 0 59 0 51 0 446 1

Arizona 1,071 1 938 2 806 0 759 0 826 1 821 0 849 1 6,070 5

Arkansas 649 0 600 0 596 1 571 0 551 0 560 1 483 2 4,010 4

California 3,995 2 3,434 7 3,090 10 2,720 13 2,816 7 2,966 6 3,000 7 22,021 52

Colorado 554 0 548 1 465 0 450 0 447 2 474 1 481 0 3,419 4

Connecticut 296 0 302 0 224 0 320 1 221 0 264 1 276 0 1,903 2

Delaware 117 0 121 0 116 0 101 0 99 0 114 1 99 0 767 1

Dist of Columbia 44 1 34 0 29 0 24 0 27 1 15 0 20 0 193 2

Florida 3,213 0 2,980 0 2,560 1 2,444 4 2,400 0 2,431 3 2,407 0 18,435 8

Georgia 1,641 0 1,495 0 1,292 1 1,247 2 1,226 0 1,192 1 1,179 1 9,272 5

Hawaii 138 0 107 0 109 0 113 0 100 0 125 0 102 0 794 0

Idaho 252 0 232 0 226 0 209 0 167 0 184 0 214 0 1,484 0

Illinois 1,248 0 1,043 0 911 0 927 0 918 2 956 0 991 0 6,994 2

Indiana 898 0 820 2 693 0 754 0 751 2 781 2 783 1 5,480 7

Iowa 446 0 412 0 371 0 390 0 360 0 365 0 317 0 2,661 0

Kansas 416 0 384 0 386 0 431 0 386 0 405 0 350 0 2,758 0

Kentucky 864 1 825 0 791 0 760 0 720 0 746 2 638 0 5,344 3

Louisiana 993 0 916 2 824 1 721 2 680 2 723 2 703 0 5,560 9

Maine 183 0 155 0 159 0 161 0 136 0 164 0 145 0 1,103 0

Maryland 614 0 591 0 549 0 496 1 485 0 511 0 465 0 3,711 1

Massachusetts 434 0 364 0 340 0 347 0 374 1 383 0 326 1 2,568 2

Michigan 1,087 0 980 2 872 0 942 3 889 1 940 1 947 1 6,657 8

Minnesota 510 0 455 1 421 0 411 0 368 1 395 0 387 0 2,947 2

Mississippi 884 0 783 0 700 0 641 0 630 0 582 0 613 0 4,833 0

Missouri 992 0 960 0 878 0 821 2 786 0 826 0 757 0 6,020 2

Montana 277 0 229 0 221 0 189 0 209 0 205 0 229 0 1,559 0

Nebraska 256 0 208 0 223 0 190 0 181 0 212 0 211 0 1,481 0

Nevada 373 1 324 1 243 0 257 3 246 1 261 3 262 4 1,966 13

New Hampshire 129 0 138 1 110 0 128 0 90 0 108 0 135 1 838 2

New Jersey 724 0 590 1 584 0 556 0 627 0 589 2 542 2 4,212 5

New Mexico 413 0 366 0 361 0 349 0 350 0 366 0 310 0 2,515 0

New York 1,332 0 1,238 0 1,158 0 1,201 1 1,171 0 1,180 0 1,199 0 8,479 1

North Carolina 1,676 0 1,428 3 1,313 0 1,320 1 1,230 1 1,299 0 1,289 0 9,555 5

North Dakota 111 0 104 1 140 0 105 1 148 0 170 0 148 0 926 2

Ohio 1,255 0 1,191 0 1,022 0 1,080 1 1,017 1 1,121 0 989 1 7,675 3

Oklahoma 766 0 750 0 737 0 668 1 696 0 709 0 678 0 5,004 1

Oregon 455 0 416 0 377 0 317 3 331 0 337 0 313 0 2,546 3

Pennsylvania 1,491 1 1,468 2 1,256 0 1,324 0 1,286 1 1,310 1 1,208 0 9,343 5

Rhode Island 69 0 65 0 83 0 67 1 66 0 64 0 65 0 479 1

South Carolina 1,077 1 921 0 894 0 809 0 828 0 863 0 767 0 6,159 1

South Dakota 146 0 121 0 131 0 140 0 111 0 133 0 135 0 917 0

Tennessee 1,211 1 1,043 2 986 2 1,032 0 937 1 1,015 0 995 5 7,219 11

Texas 3,466 3 3,476 1 3,104 0 3,023 1 3,054 0 3,408 0 3,382 0 22,913 5

Utah 299 0 276 1 244 1 253 0 243 1 217 1 220 0 1,752 4

Vermont 66 0 73 0 74 0 71 0 55 0 77 0 69 0 485 0

Virginia 1,027 0 825 0 758 0 740 0 764 0 776 1 740 1 5,630 2

Washington 571 0 521 1 492 1 460 0 454 1 438 0 436 0 3,372 3

West Virginia 432 0 378 0 357 1 315 0 338 0 339 0 332 0 2,491 1

Wisconsin 756 0 605 1 561 1 572 1 582 3 615 0 543 0 4,234 6

Wyoming 150 0 159 0 134 0 155 0 135 0 123 0 87 0 943 0

National 41,259 12 37,423 32 33,883 21 32,999 42 32,479 30 33,782 29 32,719 28 244,544 194

Source: FARS 2007-2012 Final File, 2013 ARF.

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

11688-072015-v2a