Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Table 5-2: Injured Persons by Freight Transportation Mode

About 113,000 people are injured each year in freight transportation. Like fatalities, most injuries involve trucks. Yet, these injuries account for less than 5 percent of the total number of people injured on the highway each year. Approximately, 10 percent of injures are the result of non-highway related incidents, mostly railroading. Since 1980, railroading has become much safer with a drop in injuries of more than 80 percent.

Table in Excel format | Historical data

empty Cell 1980 1990 2000 2004 20055
TOTAL injured persons (passenger and freight) NA NA 3,259,673 2,818,446 NA
Highway (passenger and freight) NA 3,231,000 3,189,000 2,788,000 2,699,000
Large truck occupants1 NA 42,000 31,000 27,000 27,000
Others injured in crashes involving large trucks NA 108,000 109,000 89,000 86,000
Large truck occupants1 (percent) NA 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0
Others injured in crashes involving large trucks (percent) NA 3.3 3.4 3.2 3.2
Railroad (passenger and freight) 62,246 25,143 11,643 (R) 9,088 9,105
Highway-rail crossing2 3,890 2,407 1,219 (R) 1,088 989
Railroad2,3 58,356 22,736 10,424 (R) 8,000 8,116
Waterborne (passenger and freight) NA NA 757 703 U
Vessel-related4 180 175 150 198 U
Freight ship 8 10 5 4 U
Tank ship 9 13 3 7 U
Tug / towboat 27 19 10 22 U
Offshore supply NA 9 5 5 U
Fishing vessel 28 31 23 36 U
Mobile offshore drilling units NA 13 0 0 U
Platform NA 9 0 0 U
Freight barge NA 3 2 5 U
Tank barge NA 3 0 1 U
Miscellaneous 98 12 8 25 U
Not related to vessel casualties4 NA NA 607 505 U
Pipeline 192 76 81 (R) 60 49
Hazardous liquid pipeline 15 7 4 (R) 16 2
Gas pipeline 177 69 77 (R) 44 47

Key: NA = not available; R = revised.

1Large trucks are defined as trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including single-unit trucks and truck tractors.
2Includes Amtrak.
3Includes train accidents and other incidents. Most injuries involve workers on duty (5,543 in 2005).
4Vessel-related injuries include those involving damage to vessels, such as collisions or groundings. Injuries not related to vessel casualties include those from falls overboard or from accidents involving onboard equipment.
5Railroad injuries are preliminary.

Note: Note: Numbers may not add to totals due to some injuries being counted in more than one mode.

Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2006, available at http://www.bts.gov/ as of September 15, 2006.

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