Work Zone Mobility and Safety Program
Photo collage: temporary lane closure, road marking installation, cone with mounted warning light, and drum separated work zones.
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FHWA Work Zone Facts and Statistics

Introduction

Access Comprehensive Work Zone Data Sets

For additional data visit the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.

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Work zones play a key role in maintaining and upgrading our Nation's roadways. Unfortunately, daily changes in traffic patterns, narrowed rights-of-way, and other construction activities often create a combination of factors resulting in crashes, injuries, and fatalities. These crashes also cause excessive delays, especially given the constrained driving environment.

This page highlights work zone-related data insights. Understanding data trends is the first step to making changes to improve work zone safety, mobility, and constructability. For additional information and data, please visit the National Work Zone Safety Information Clearinghouse.

Work Zone Exposure. In the United States (U.S.), one work zone fatality occurs for every 4 billion vehicle-miles of travel1 and for every $112 million worth of roadway construction expenditures.2, 3

Work Zone Fatalities. Between 2021 and 2022, work zone fatalities decreased by 7 percent while overall roadway fatalities declined by 1.7 percent.4 There was a decrease in the percentages of fatal work zone crashes involving rear-end collisions, but commercial motor vehicle (CMV), and fatal work zone crashes that involved speeding increased. Persons on foot and bicyclists saw a decrease of 16.6 percent in work zone fatalities in 2022 relative to 2021.5

Work Zone Crashes. Fatal work zone crashes involving CMVs decreased slightly in 2022—from 294 fatal crashes in 2021 to 246 fatal crashes in 2022.6 

Total Work Zone Traffic Fatalities7

Based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) FARS data by person type

Total work zone fatalities by person type in 2020 are 863 and in 2021 are 956. Categories are broken down by drivers and passengers with 685 fatalities in 2020 and 778 in 2021; persons on foot and bicyclists with 171 fatalities in 2020 and 173 in 2021; and others (occupants of a non-motor vehicle transport device and persons on personal conveyances) with 7 fatalities in 2020 and 5 in 2021.
Total work zone fatalities by person type in 2021 are 963 and in 2022 are 891.
Total work zone fatalities by person type in 2021 were 963 and in 2022 were 891. Categories are broken down by drivers and passengers with 784 fatalities in 2021 and 742 in 2022; persons on foot and bicyclists with 174 fatalities in 2021 and 145 in 2022; and others (unknown occupant types of a motor vehicle in transport, occupants of a motor vehicle not in transport, and persons on personal conveyances) with 5 fatalities in 2021 and 4 in 2022.

Total Work Zone Fatal Traffic Crashes8

Based on NHTSA FARS data by type of roadway

Two pie charts show 2021 and 2022 statistics.
Two pie charts show the 2021 and 2022 statistics for fatal traffic crashes by roadway type. In 2021, there was a reported 880 total crashes: 354 in an interstate, 430 on an arterial road, 77 on a collector road, 18 on a local road, and 1 on other roadways. In 2022, there were a total of 821 crashes: 321 on an interstate, 405 on an arterial road, 63 on a collector road, and 32 on a local road.

Total Work Zone Fatal Traffic Crashes By Type9


The following types of fatal work zone crashes increased from 2021 to 2022.
Fatal work zone crashes involving a rear-end collision or involving a CMV decreased from 2021 to 2022, while the percentage of crashes where speeding was a factor increased from 2021 to 2022. Fatal work zone crashes involving a rear-end collision were 206 (23%) in 2021 and 174 (21%) in 2022 and involving a CMV with 294 (33%) fatalities in 2021 and 246 (30%) in 2022. Where speeding was a factor was 281 (32%) fatalities in 2021 and 281 (34%) in 2022. Highway worker occupational fatalities in road construction sites were 108 in 2021 and 94 in 2022.

Notes:

  • Data on fatal traffic crashes in work zones come from the FARS, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). These data represent crashes coded as occurring in a work zone from all 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These data are extracted from law enforcement crash report forms, and as such are only as accurate as the data included in those reports. It is possible that some crashes that did occur in work zones were not recorded as being in a work zone, and so would not be included in these statistics.
  • The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, and NHTSA use the term CMV when referring to large trucks and buses. Large trucks are identified as vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of more than 10,000 lbs (Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) body type codes 60—64, 66—67, 71—72, and 78). Large trucks do not include motor homes. Buses are identified as school buses, cross-country or intercity buses, transit (city) buses, van-based buses (GVWR more than 10,000 lbs), and other types of buses (FARS body type codes 50—59). Buses do not include van-based buses with a GVWR of 10,000 lbs or less. For more information, visit COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY IN WORK ZONES TARGETED ACTION PLAN.

Sources:

1 Bureau of Transportation Statistics — 799 fatalities in work zones in 2017 and 3,174,408,000,000 VMT in 2016. Accessible at: https://www.bts.gov/. [ Return to Note 1 ]

2 Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Economic Data - Average estimate of total US road construction expenditures of $89,316,083,333 in 2017. Accessible at: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/. [ Return to Note 2 ]

3 National metrics do not exist for the number of work zones occurring annually or the vehicle-miles of exposure to work zones. [ Return to Note 3 ]

4 FARS 2022 Annual Report File, NHTSA. FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 4 ]

5 Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2021 Final File and 2022 Annual Report File, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 5 ]

6 FARS 2022 Annual Report File, NHTSA. FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 6 ]

7 FARS 2021 Final File and 2022 Annual Report File, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 7 ]

8 FARS 2021 Final File and 2022 Annual Report File, NHTSA. FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 8 ]

9 FARS 2021 Final File and 2022 Annual Report File, NHTSA. FARS data shown here are from the 50 States, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. [ Return to Note 9 ]

Note: Figures are subject to revision, as values reported in FARS may be updated intermittently. Values shown here reflect what is reported by NHTSA as of April 2024.