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Highway Safety: Research Continues on a Variety of Factors That Contribute to Motor Vehicle Crashes

GAO-03-436 Published: Mar 31, 2003. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2003.
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Highlights

Nearly 6.3 million motor vehicle crashes occurred in the United States in 2001, or one crash every 5 seconds. On average, a person was injured in these crashes every 10 seconds, and someone was killed every 12 minutes. Since the 1970s, progress has been made in reducing the number of fatalities and injuries on our nation's roads. From 1975 through 2001, fatalities decreased from 44,525 to 42,116, while the rate of fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled decreased from 3.35 to 1.51. However, the decline in fatalities has leveled off in recent years. In the 1970s, Indiana University conducted one of the most significant studies to date on the factors that contribute to motor vehicle crashes. This study examined human, environmental, and vehicle factors that contribute to crashes. As requested, this report provides more recent information from data, experts, and studies about the factors that contribute to motor vehicle crashes and information about major ongoing and planned Department of Transportation research into factors that contribute to crashes.

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Topics

Data collectionHighway mediansHighway safetyHighway traffic control devicesImpaired motor vehicle operatorsMotor vehicle safetyMotor vehiclesPedestrian safetyRoad safety structuresRoad shouldersRural roadsState highwaysTraffic accidentsTraffic violationsTransportation researchTransportation safety