Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Freight Facts and Figures 2012

Table 5-1. Fatalities by Freight Transportation Mode: 1980, 1990, and 2000–2011 (Historical)

Table in Excel format

Blank cell. 1980 1990 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Total transportation fatalities (passenger and freight) NA 47,350 44,384 44,941 45,276 45,134 45,052 (R) 45,666 (R) 45,040 (R) 43,330 (R) 39,514 (P) 35,929 NA NA
Highway (passenger and freight) 51,091 44,599 41,945 42,196 43,005 42,884 42,836 43,443 42,708 41,259 37,423 (R) 33,883 32,885 NA
Large truck occupants1 1,262 705 754 708 689 723 761 804 805 805 (R) 682 (R) 499 529 NA
Others killed in crashes involving large trucks 4,709 4,567 4,528 4,403 4,250 4,263 4,429 4,409 4,222 4,017 (R) 3,139 (R) 2,551 3,146 NA
Large truck occupants1 (percent) 2.5 1.6 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 1.9 2.0 1.8 1.5 1.6 NA
Others killed in crashes involving large trucks (percent) 9.2 10.2 10.8 10.4 9.9 9.9 10.3 10.1 9.9 9.7 8.4 7.5 9.6 NA
Railroad (passenger and freight) 1,417 1,297 937 971 951 865 891 884 903 851 803 695 (R) 730 694
Highway-rail crossing2 833 698 425 421 357 334 371 359 369 339 290 247 (R) 257 249
Railroad2,3 584 599 512 550 594 531 520 525 534 512 513 448 (R) 473 445
Waterborne (passenger and freight) 487 186 111 99 107 104 83 116 107 107 109 185 160 232
Vessel-related4 206 85 42 50 66 54 48 66 55 61 56 54 28 41
Freight ship 8 0 0 3 3 3 8 2 1 3 0 1 1 10
Tank ship 4 5 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
Tug/towboat 14 13 1 11 7 0 1 12 7 6 5 3 0 4
Offshore supply NA 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1
Fishing vessel 60 47 26 13 19 14 16 23 23 19 25 25 14 9
Mobile offshore drilling units NA 0 0 2 0 2 1 0 2 1 4 1 0 0
Platform NA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Freight barge NA 0 0 3 0 0 1 1 1 3 1 0 0 0
Tank barge NA 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Miscellaneous5 56 11 15 20 35 33 18 27 21 26 21 23 13 15
Not vessel-related4 281 101 69 49 41 50 35 50 52 46 53 131 132 191
Pipeline 19 9 38 7 12 12 23 13 19 15 9 13 (R) 19 12
Hazardous liquid pipeline 4 3 1 0 1 0 5 2 0 4 2 4 1 1
Gas pipeline 15 6 37 7 12 12 18 11 19 11 7 9 (R) 18 11

Key: NA = not available; R = revised, P = preliminary

1Large trucks are defined as trucks over the 10,000 pound gross vehicle weight rating, including single-unit trucks and truck tractors.

2Includes Amtrak.

3Includes train accidents and other incidents. Most fatalities involve trespassers who are included under other incidents (411 in 2011).

4Vessel-related casualties include those involving damage to vessels such as collisions or groundings. Fatalities not related to vessel casualties include deaths from falling overboard or from accidents involving onboard equipment.

5Includes industrial vessel, passenger (inspected), passenger (uninspected), recreational, research vessel, unclassified, and unknown data.

Note:

Caution must be exercised in comparing fatalities across modes because significantly different definitions are used.

Sources:

Total: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics, available at www.bts.gov as of August 29, 2011.

Highway: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts, Large Trucks (annual issues); 2008-2009: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts - Highlights (August 2010).

Railroad: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, available at safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/default.asp as of August 29, 2011.

Waterborne: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division, personal communication, September 6, 2011.

Pipeline: U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Pipeline Safety Program, Pipeline Library, available at http://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/comm/PipelineLibrary.htm as of August 28, 2011.

 


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