Passenger
Vehicle Occupant Fatalities by
Restraint Use and Ejection
Status, 2003
This
document provides descriptive statistics on the extent of
restraint use among fatally injured occupants of passenger
vehicles in 2003. Data are presented for occupants of Passenger
Cars, Pickup Trucks, Minivans, Large Vans, SUVs and other
types of Light Trucks and Vans (LTVs).
As
shown in the Table (overleaf), 56 percent of the occupants
killed in fatal crashes were not restrained, i.e., they
were not wearing safety belts or not properly restrained
in child-safety seats, etc. The chance of a serious injury
is higher when an occupant is not restrained, among other
things, the chances of being ejected out of the vehicle
increases. Fatality rates among non-ejected occupants are
dramatically lower as compared with the ejected occupants
in the same crash.
Source
The data used in this document are from NCSA’s Fatality
Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Annual Report File for
2003.
Results
Overall, 44 percent of unrestrained passenger vehicle occupants
are ejected, partially or totally, from the vehicle as compared
to only 6 percent of restrained occupants. Other notable
observations include:
-
65 percent of fatally injured unrestrained SUV occupants
were ejected totally or partially, the highest among all
types of passenger vehicles. The lowest such proportion
was 35 percent for passenger cars.
-
57 percent of fatally injured unrestrained SUV occupants
were totally ejected from their vehicles. This compared
with 28 percent of all unrestrained passenger car occupants,
39 percent of all unrestrained pickup truck occupants
and 41 percent of all unrestrained minivan occupants.
-
50 percent of all fatally injured passenger car occupants
were unrestrained as compared to 71 percent of all pickup
truck occupants, 64 percent of all SUV occupants and 52
percent of all minivan occupants.
-
Overall, about 26 percent of fatally injured occupants
were ejected from their vehicles. Also, about 80 percent
of all ejected, fatally injured occupants were totally
ejected.
|
Fatally
Injured Passenger Vehicle Occupants by Type
of Vehicle, Restraint Use and Ejection Status,
2003 |
|
Vehicle
Type by Restraint Use |
Ejection
Status |
Total |
|
Not
Ejected |
Totally
Ejected |
Partially
Ejected |
Unknown |
|
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
|
Passanger
Car |
Used |
9,309 |
95% |
236 |
2% |
208 |
2% |
38 |
0% |
9,791 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
6,271 |
65% |
2,708 |
28% |
634 |
7% |
56 |
1% |
9,669 |
100% |
|
Total |
15,580 |
80% |
2,944 |
15% |
842 |
4% |
94 |
0% |
19,460 |
100% |
|
Light
Truck - Pickup |
Used |
1,607 |
94% |
30 |
2% |
70 |
4% |
4 |
0% |
1,711 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
2,123 |
51% |
1,632 |
39% |
403 |
10% |
35 |
1% |
4,193 |
100% |
|
Total |
3,730 |
63% |
1,662 |
28% |
473 |
8% |
39 |
1% |
5,904 |
100% |
|
Light
Truck
- Utility |
Used |
1,410 |
89% |
90 |
6% |
83 |
5% |
5 |
0% |
1,587 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
1,004 |
35% |
1,624 |
57% |
210 |
7% |
20 |
1% |
2,859 |
100% |
|
Total |
2,414 |
54% |
1,714 |
39% |
293 |
7% |
25 |
1% |
4,446 |
100% |
|
Light
Truck
- Minivan |
Used |
655 |
92% |
32 |
5% |
20 |
3% |
1 |
0% |
708 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
400 |
51% |
325 |
41% |
64 |
8% |
2 |
0% |
791 |
100% |
|
Total |
1,055 |
70% |
357 |
24% |
84 |
6% |
3 |
0% |
1,499 |
100% |
|
Light
Truck
- van |
Used |
816 |
93% |
40 |
5% |
24 |
3% |
1 |
0% |
882 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
601 |
51% |
484 |
41% |
95 |
8% |
5 |
0% |
1,184 |
100% |
|
Total |
1,417 |
69% |
524 |
25% |
119 |
6% |
6 |
0% |
2,066 |
100% |
|
Light
Truck
- Other |
Used |
7 |
100% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
0 |
0% |
7 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
9 |
45% |
8 |
40% |
3 |
15% |
0 |
0% |
20 |
100% |
|
Total |
16 |
59% |
8 |
30% |
3 |
11% |
0 |
0% |
27 |
100% |
|
Total |
Used |
13,142 |
94% |
393 |
3% |
384 |
3% |
48 |
0% |
13,968 |
100% |
|
Not
Used |
10,015 |
56% |
6,459 |
36% |
1,346 |
8% |
117 |
1% |
17,936 |
100% |
|
Total |
23,157 |
73% |
6,852 |
21% |
1,730 |
5% |
165 |
1% |
31,904 |
100% |
|
|
