Office of Operations Freight Management and Operations

Table 5-1. Fatalities by Freight Transportation Mode: 1980-2006

While the amount of freight transportation activity has increased in recent decades, the number of fatalities has declined or remained stable in each mode. Most fatalities involve people who are not in the freight business, such as trespassers on freight railroads.

Table in Excel format | Historical data

empty Cell 1980 1990 2000 2005 2006
Total transportation fatalities (passenger and freight) NA (R) 47,350 44,384 NA NA
Highway (passenger and freight) 51,091 44,599 41,945 (R) 43,443 (P) 42,642
Large truck occupants1 1,262 705 754 (R) 804 805
Others killed in crashes involving large trucks 4,709 4,567 4,528 (R) 4,409 NA
Large truck occupants1 (percent) 2.5 1.6 1.8 (R) 1.9 NA
Others killed in crashes involving large trucks (percent) 9.2 10.2 10.8 (R) 10.1 NA
Railroad (passenger and freight) 1,417 1,297 937 (R) 885 915
Highway-rail crossing2 833 698 425 (R) 358 368
Railroad2,3 584 599 512 (R) 528 553
Waterborne (passenger and freight) 487 186 (R) 111 (R) 80 (R) 87
Vessel-related4 206 85 (R) 42 (R) 45 48
Freight ship 8 0 0 (R) 2 1
Tank ship 4 5 0 (R) 0 0
Tug / towboat 14 13 (R) 1 (R) 10 6
Offshore supply NA 2 (R) 0 (R) 0 0
Fishing vessel 60 47 (R) 26 (R) 16 19
Mobile offshore drilling units NA 0 0 (R) 0 1
Platform NA 1 0 (R) 0 0
Freight barge NA 0 0 (R) 1 2
Tank barge NA 0 0 (R) 0 0
Miscellaneous 56 11 (R) 15 (R) 16 19
Not vessel-related4 281 101 (R) 69 (R) 35 39
Pipeline 19 9 38 (R) 16 19
Hazardous liquid pipeline 4 3 1 2 0
Gas pipeline 15 6 37 (R) 14 19

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

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 fatalities involve trespassers who are included under other incidents (467 in 2005).
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.
5Railroad fatalities are preliminary.

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

Sources:

Total and Pipeline: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transportation Statistics 2007, available at http://www.bts.gov/ as of August 2, 2007.

Highway: National Center for Transportation Analysis, National Highway Transit Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts, Large Trucks (Annual Issues). 2006: National Center for Transportation Analysis, National Highway Transit Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts (July 2007).

Highway-Rail Grade Crossings: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/officeofsafety/default.asp as of August 17, 2007.

Waterborne: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Coast Guard, Data Administration Division, personal communication, August 17, 2007.


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