Fatality Facts 2009

Occupants of cars, pickups, SUVs, and vans

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Overview | Crash types | Age and gender differences | Driver death rates | Rollover

By far the largest number of motor vehicle crash deaths are occupants of passenger vehicles including cars, minivans, pickups, SUVs, and cargo/large passenger vans. The likelihood of crash death varies markedly among these vehicle types according to size. Small/light vehicles have less structure and size to absorb crash energy, so more injurious forces can reach their occupants in crashes. People in lighter vehicles are at a disadvantage in collisions with heavier vehicles.¹ Pickups and SUVs are proportionally more likely than cars to be in fatal single-vehicle crashes, especially rollovers. However, pickups and SUVs generally are heavier than cars, so occupant deaths in SUVs and pickups are less likely to occur in multiple-vehicle crashes.

 

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and The Polk Company's National Vehicle Population Profile.

Overview

A total of 23,437 passenger vehicle occupants died in 2009, 23 percent less than in 1975. However, the distribution of vehicle types among these crashes has changed. Car occupant deaths have declined 45 percent since 1975, while pickup occupant deaths have risen 29 percent and SUV occupant deaths are more than 9 times as high.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by vehicle type, 1975-2009

 

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by vehicle type, 1975-2009
Year	Car occupants	Pickup occupants	SUV occupants	All passenger vehicle occupants
1975	25,715	3,674	455	30,601
1976	26,163	4,225	577	31,724
1977	26,698	4,512	729	32,823
1978	27,898	5,103	852	34,923
1979	27,518	5,423	945	35,026
1980	27,282	5,489	1,124	34,996
1981	26,406	5,236	1,021	33,711
1982	23,144	4,779	862	29,656
1983	22,801	4,660	920	29,154
1984	23,482	4,884	886	30,093
1985	23,076	4,892	1,024	29,847
1986	24,880	5,334	1,131	32,224
1987	25,115	5,795	1,269	33,145
1988	25,825	6,089	1,320	34,105
1989	25,269	6,016	1,373	33,599
1990	24,413	6,032	1,480	32,711
1991	22,738	5,858	1,521	30,810
1992	21,824	5,476	1,390	29,457
1993	22,117	5,611	1,552	29,994
1994	22,622	5,604	1,809	30,820
1995	23,124	5,973	2,006	31,913
1996	23,426	5,928	2,210	32,353
1997	23,162	5,922	2,416	32,343
1998	22,357	5,904	2,711	31,781
1999	22,119	6,095	3,019	32,008
2000	21,985	5,996	3,337	32,109
2001	21,604	6,121	3,521	31,938
2002	22,007	6,058	4,022	32,724
2003	21,053	5,833	4,463	32,166
2004	20,560	5,716	4,772	31,750
2005	19,892	6,040	4,847	31,455
2006	19,034	5,877	4,973	30,628
2007	17,762	5,758	4,975	29,155
2008	15,691	5,021	4,350	25,547
2009	14,058	4,737	4,246	23,437

A total of 16,791 passenger vehicle drivers died in 2009, 8 percent less than in 2008 and 13 percent less than in 1975. Sixty percent of passenger vehicle driver deaths in 2009 were car drivers, 22 percent were pickup drivers, and 17 percent were SUV drivers.

Passenger vehicle driver deaths by vehicle type, 1975-2009
Year	Car drivers		Pickup drivers		SUV drivers		All passenger vehicle drivers
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	16,141	83	2,481	13	270	1	19,349
1976	16,385	82	2,890	14	347	2	20,091
1977	16,903	81	3,076	15	434	2	20,941
1978	18,047	79	3,535	16	519	2	22,758
1979	18,064	78	3,734	16	596	3	23,109
1980	17,848	78	3,776	16	684	3	22,991
1981	17,553	78	3,687	16	623	3	22,506
1982	15,235	77	3,345	17	549	3	19,664
1983	15,058	78	3,219	17	575	3	19,338
1984	15,786	78	3,422	17	557	3	20,299
1985	15,430	77	3,446	17	645	3	20,057
1986	16,503	77	3,764	18	690	3	21,503
1987	16,722	75	4,082	18	765	3	22,157
1988	17,183	75	4,332	19	850	4	22,884
1989	16,775	74	4,365	19	877	4	22,554
1990	16,200	74	4,307	20	951	4	21,953
1991	14,938	73	4,256	21	943	5	20,551
1992	14,337	73	3,958	20	863	4	19,573
1993	14,547	73	4,105	20	977	5	20,036
1994	14,916	72	4,130	20	1,140	6	20,647
1995	15,323	71	4,431	21	1,248	6	21,456
1996	15,379	71	4,402	20	1,399	6	21,631
1997	15,317	71	4,376	20	1,537	7	21,711
1998	15,035	70	4,452	21	1,686	8	21,627
1999	14,809	68	4,658	21	1,986	9	21,899
2000	14,719	67	4,535	21	2,086	10	21,819
2001	14,553	67	4,641	21	2,265	10	21,862
2002	14,897	66	4,658	21	2,599	12	22,537
2003	14,380	65	4,522	20	2,829	13	22,200
2004	14,040	64	4,344	20	3,139	14	21,952
2005	13,728	63	4,642	21	3,171	14	21,953
2006	13,235	61	4,528	21	3,347	16	21,592
2007	12,421	60	4,451	22	3,269	16	20,542
2008	11,053	61	3,929	22	2,975	16	18,266
2009	9,996	60	3,684	22	2,868	17	16,791

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths represented 69 percent of the 33,808 motor vehicle crash deaths in 2009.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths vs. all motor vehicle crash deaths, 1975-2009
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Other deaths		All motor vehicle crash deaths
	Num	%	Num	%	Num
1975	30,601	69	13,924	31	44,525
1976	31,724	70	13,799	30	45,523
1977	32,823	69	15,055	31	47,878
1978	34,923	69	15,408	31	50,331
1979	35,026	69	16,067	31	51,093
1980	34,996	68	16,095	32	51,091
1981	33,711	68	15,590	32	49,301
1982	29,656	67	14,289	33	43,945
1983	29,154	68	13,435	32	42,589
1984	30,093	68	14,164	32	44,257
1985	29,847	68	13,978	32	43,825
1986	32,224	70	13,863	30	46,087
1987	33,145	71	13,245	29	46,390
1988	34,105	72	12,982	28	47,087
1989	33,599	74	11,983	26	45,582
1990	32,711	73	11,888	27	44,599
1991	30,810	74	10,698	26	41,508
1992	29,457	75	9,793	25	39,250
1993	29,994	75	10,156	25	40,150
1994	30,820	76	9,896	24	40,716
1995	31,913	76	9,904	24	41,817
1996	32,353	77	9,712	23	42,065
1997	32,343	77	9,670	23	42,013
1998	31,781	77	9,720	23	41,501
1999	32,008	77	9,709	23	41,717
2000	32,109	77	9,836	23	41,945
2001	31,938	76	10,258	24	42,196
2002	32,724	76	10,281	24	43,005
2003	32,166	75	10,718	25	42,884
2004	31,750	74	11,086	26	42,836
2005	31,455	72	12,055	28	43,510
2006	30,628	72	12,080	28	42,708
2007	29,155	71	12,104	29	41,259
2008	25,547	68	11,876	32	37,423
2009	23,437	69	10,371	31	33,808

Crash types

Frontal impacts accounted for 52 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2009. Side impacts accounted for another 27 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in single-vehicle crashes by impact point and vehicle type, 2009
Point of principal impact	Car occupants		Pickup occupants		SUV occupants		All occupants
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Frontal	3,334	52	1,479	49	1,181	43	6,077	49
Side	1,570	24	517	17	414	15	2,519	20
Rear	177	3	55	2	46	2	279	2
Other (mostly rollover)	1,344	21	994	33	1,085	40	3,499	28
All*	6,425	100	3,045	100	2,726	100	12,374	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes by impact point and vehicle type, 2009
Point of principal impact	Car occupants		Pickup occupants		SUV occupants		All occupants
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Frontal	4,002	53	1,097	65	905	60	6,146	56
Side	2,955	39	425	25	407	27	3,840	35
Rear	474	6	100	6	126	8	710	6
Other (mostly rollover)	190	2	66	4	79	5	347	3
All*	7,621	100	1,688	100	1,517	100	11,043	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in all crashes by impact point and vehicle type, 2009
Point of principal impact	Car occupants		Pickup occupants		SUV occupants		All occupants
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Frontal	7,346	52	2,578	54	2,089	49	12,239	52
Side	4,527	32	943	20	821	19	6,362	27
Rear	651	5	155	3	172	4	989	4
Other (mostly rollover)	1,534	11	1,061	22	1,164	27	3,847	16
All*	14,058	100	4,737	100	4,246	100	23,437	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Forty-six percent of car occupant deaths in 2009 occurred in single-vehicle crashes and 54 percent occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes. In contrast, single-vehicle crashes accounted for 64 percent of SUV occupant deaths and 64 percent of pickup occupant deaths.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by vehicle and crash type, 2009
Vehicle type	Deaths in single-vehicle crashes		Deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes		Deaths in all crashes*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Cars	6,425	46	7,621	54	14,058
Pickups	3,045	64	1,688	36	4,737
SUVs	2,726	64	1,517	36	4,246
Other	178	45	217	55	396
All passenger vehicles	12,374	53	11,043	47	23,437
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Age and gender differences

Twenty-nine percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2009 were younger than 25.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by age, 2009
Age	All occupants
	Num	%
< 25	6,882	29
25-29	2,389	10
30-34	1,654	7
35-39	1,454	6
40-44	1,499	6
45-49	1,681	7
50-54	1,464	6
55-59	1,206	5
60-64	1,098	5
65-69	893	4
≥ 70	3,180	14
All*	23,437	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Seventy-two percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2009 were drivers; 71 percent of these drivers were males.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by occupant age, type, and gender, 2009
Age	Drivers					All occupants
	Male		Female		Total*	Male		Female		Total*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num	%	Num
< 16	25	64	14	36	39	517	49	533	51	1,051
16-19	1,010	67	501	33	1,511	1,613	63	961	37	2,575
20-24	1,767	76	564	24	2,332	2,393	73	862	26	3,256
25-29	1,321	74	468	26	1,789	1,712	72	677	28	2,389
30-34	919	72	350	28	1,269	1,155	70	499	30	1,654
35-39	842	72	321	28	1,163	997	69	457	31	1,454
40-44	905	74	314	26	1,219	1,057	71	442	29	1,499
45-49	964	71	401	29	1,365	1,119	67	562	33	1,681
50-54	866	72	345	28	1,211	980	67	484	33	1,464
55-59	679	67	329	33	1,008	764	63	442	37	1,206
60-64	625	70	262	30	887	708	64	390	36	1,098
65-69	477	67	230	33	707	533	60	360	40	893
≥ 70	1,496	66	787	34	2,283	1,766	56	1,414	44	3,180
All*	11,902	71	4,887	29	16,791	15,334	65	8,097	35	23,437
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Nine percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths were in the second or third row; 27 percent of these were younger than 13.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by seating position and age, 2009
	Age
	< 13		13-19		≥ 20		All*
Seating position	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Driver	0	0	1,550	9	15,233	91	16,791
Front row passenger	138	3	721	17	3,308	79	4,186
Second row passenger	493	25	487	25	953	49	1,940
Third row passenger	51	52	17	17	31	31	99
All*	754	3	2,872	12	19,774	84	23,437
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Driver death rates

Computing driver death rates per million registered passenger vehicles allows for comparisons of fatal crash risk across vehicle groups. The computed rates reflect the influence of vehicle designs plus their patterns of use and the demographics of their drivers. Driver death rates are based on 1-3-year-old vehicles only so as to minimize the effects of vehicle aging. Rates based on fewer than 120,000 vehicle registrations are considered unreliable and are not included.

Since 1978, the overall rates of driver and occupant deaths per million registered vehicles have declined across all passenger vehicle types. Declines in death rates have been largest for SUV occupants.

Occupant deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 1978-2009
Year	Drivers				All occupants
	Cars	Pickups	SUVs	All passenger vehicles	Cars	Pickups	SUVs	All passenger vehicles
1978	155	237	273	169	235	346	438	256
1979	165	246	271	180	244	350	425	265
1980	167	221	287	177	248	316	494	263
1981	177	216	237	182	259	296	389	265
1982	155	188	229	159	231	263	392	236
1983	148	188	225	153	220	263	337	225
1984	147	190	143	151	218	259	218	222
1985	139	182	141	144	208	257	227	213
1986	128	172	134	133	196	239	224	202
1987	130	178	136	136	197	248	232	205
1988	134	186	121	140	206	251	198	211
1989	130	185	116	138	200	255	185	208
1990	122	179	126	131	188	245	201	197
1991	108	169	109	117	169	229	175	178
1992	102	151	88	108	160	200	151	165
1993	97	137	93	102	153	187	141	156
1994	100	134	87	104	160	178	148	161
1995	103	134	102	107	160	180	157	162
1996	107	127	98	109	168	178	150	167
1997	96	118	93	99	153	161	146	153
1998	90	119	86	94	141	158	141	144
1999	91	120	93	96	138	162	139	143
2000	83	117	81	89	127	155	135	134
2001	83	130	74	89	125	170	116	131
2002	84	123	76	88	126	162	122	131
2003	81	115	72	85	122	151	115	126
2004	76	107	66	79	114	145	103	117
2005	79	110	56	78	117	145	88	115
2006	77	101	49	73	112	137	74	106
2007	70	95	44	67	104	128	69	99
2008	65	87	35	61	92	114	52	85
2009	57	71	27	51	82	94	39	72

Historically, the rates of driver deaths per million registered vehicles have been lower for the larger and heavier vehicles. This was true for cars in 2009, but not for pickups and SUVs.

Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 2009

Note: Pickups and SUVs are typically heavier than most passenger cars.

 

Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 2009
		Registered vehicles	Deaths	Rate
Cars	Mini	1,083,372	85	78
	Small	6,994,772	547	78
	Midsize	9,393,400	464	49
	Large	4,465,934	213	48
	Very large	2,660,372	77	29
	All cars	24,597,850	1,395	57
Pickups	Small	1,304,906	85	65
	Large	3,699,164	271	73
	Very large	1,477,719	93	63
	All pickups	6,481,789	459	71
SUVs	Small	2,981,763	105	35
	Midsize	5,514,761	141	26
	Large	2,032,749	39	19
	Very large	562,049	18	32
	All SUVs	11,091,322	305	27
All passenger vehicles	All	42,832,776	2,180	51

Overall, driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in 2009 were about the same for single and multiple vehicle crashes, but this pattern varied by vehicle type. In single-vehicle crashes, pickups had the highest number of deaths per registered vehicle (48 per million) in 2009. In multiple-vehicle crashes, cars had the highest number of deaths per registered vehicle (31 per million), and SUVs had the lowest number of deaths per registered vehicle (14 per million).

Driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old by crash type, 2009
		Multiple-vehicle		Single-vehicle		Single-vehicle rollover		All crashes
		Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate
Cars	Mini	50	46	35	32	17	16	85	78
	Small	289	41	257	37	140	20	547	78
	Midsize	245	26	218	23	103	11	464	49
	Large	127	28	85	19	37	8	213	48
	Very large	52	20	25	9	10	4	77	29
	All cars	767	31	625	25	309	13	1,395	57
Pickups	Small	31	24	54	41	35	27	85	65
	Large	87	24	184	50	114	31	271	73
	Very large	22	15	71	48	50	34	93	63
	All pickups	145	22	314	48	202	31	459	71
SUVs	Small	58	19	46	15	22	7	105	35
	Midsize	68	12	72	13	34	6	141	26
	Large	18	9	21	10	12	6	39	19
	Very large	8	14	10	18	5	9	18	32
	All SUVs	153	14	150	14	74	7	305	27
All passenger vehicles	All	1,078	25	1,097	26	589	14	2,180	51

 

Frontal impacts accounted for 16 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in multiple-vehicle crashes in 2009 compared with 7 deaths per million in side impacts and 1 death per million in rear impacts.

Driver deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 2009
	Frontal impacts		Side impacts		Rear impacts		Other		Total
	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate
Cars	461	19	247	10	36	1	10	< 1	767	31
Pickups	102	16	25	4	9	1	7	1	145	22
SUVs	113	10	28	3	7	< 1	4	< 1	153	14
All passenger vehicles	686	16	301	7	52	1	22	< 1	1,078	25

 

Frontal impacts accounted for 14 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in single-vehicle crashes in 2009 compared with 5 deaths per million in side impacts and fewer than 1 death per million in rear impacts.

Driver deaths in single-vehicle crashes per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 2009
	Frontal impacts		Side impacts		Rear impacts		Other		Total
	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate	Deaths	Rate
Cars	346	14	138	6	13	< 1	96	4	625	25
Pickups	157	24	40	6	9	1	87	13	314	48
SUVs	100	9	15	1	3	< 1	26	2	150	14
All passenger vehicles	607	14	195	5	25	< 1	211	5	1,097	26

 

Rollover

A vehicle is classified as rolling over if it tips onto its side or roof at any time during the crash. The rollover may occur subsequent to a frontal or side impact with another vehicle or a fixed object. Many rollovers occur after a vehicle leaves the roadway and may lead to occupants being ejected from the vehicle, increasing the likelihood of a fatality.

A total of 8,296 passenger vehicle occupants died in rollover crashes in 2009. Nineteen percent of these did not involve any other impact.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in rollover crashes by impact point and vehicle type, 2009
Point of principal impact	Car occupants		Pickup occupants		SUV occupants		All occupants
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
Frontal	1,519	43	870	39	853	36	3,303	40
Side	634	18	352	16	356	15	1,370	17
Rear	124	4	85	4	96	4	309	4
None	480	14	449	20	620	26	1,580	19
Other	740	21	494	22	459	19	1,734	21
All*	3,497	100	2,250	100	2,384	100	8,296	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crashes in which a vehicle rolled over accounted for 35 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2009 (55 percent of single-vehicle occupant crash deaths and 13 percent of multiple-vehicle occupant crash deaths).

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by crash type, 1978-2009
Year	Deaths in single-vehicle crashes				Deaths in multiple-vehicle crashes				Deaths in all crashes*
	Rollover		No rollover		Rollover		No rollover		Rollover		No rollover
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
1978	7,858	48	8,460	52	1,477	8	17,093	92	9,350	27	25,573	73
1979	8,010	48	8,542	52	1,666	9	16,779	91	9,691	28	25,335	72
1980	8,673	49	9,001	51	1,588	9	15,679	91	10,282	29	24,714	71
1981	8,211	50	8,188	50	1,588	9	15,692	91	9,812	29	23,899	71
1982	6,974	49	7,205	51	1,305	8	14,158	92	8,282	28	21,374	72
1983	6,951	50	7,079	50	1,256	8	13,868	92	8,207	28	20,947	72
1984	7,116	50	7,091	50	1,358	9	14,528	91	8,474	28	21,619	72
1985	6,900	50	6,779	50	1,361	8	14,804	92	8,262	28	21,585	72
1986	7,954	52	7,428	48	1,501	9	15,341	91	9,455	29	22,769	71
1987	8,162	53	7,363	47	1,629	9	15,991	91	9,791	30	23,354	70
1988	8,562	53	7,494	47	1,582	9	16,467	91	10,144	30	23,961	70
1989	8,060	52	7,558	48	1,620	9	16,361	91	9,680	29	23,919	71
1990	8,068	52	7,382	48	1,556	9	15,705	91	9,624	29	23,087	71
1991	7,749	52	7,131	48	1,523	10	14,407	90	9,272	30	21,538	70
1992	7,135	52	6,693	48	1,492	10	14,137	90	8,627	29	20,830	71
1993	7,002	51	6,821	49	1,524	9	14,647	91	8,526	28	21,468	72
1994	7,268	52	6,637	48	1,669	10	15,246	90	8,937	29	21,883	71
1995	7,802	53	6,940	47	1,708	10	15,463	90	9,510	30	22,403	70
1996	7,903	53	6,891	47	1,691	10	15,869	90	9,594	30	22,760	70
1997	7,712	53	6,743	47	1,774	10	16,114	90	9,486	29	22,857	71
1998	7,848	54	6,594	46	1,872	11	15,467	89	9,720	31	22,061	69
1999	8,255	56	6,502	44	1,839	11	15,412	89	10,094	32	21,914	68
2000	8,112	54	6,841	46	1,800	10	15,356	90	9,912	31	22,197	69
2001	8,375	55	6,786	45	1,747	10	15,030	90	10,122	32	21,816	68
2002	8,724	55	7,114	45	1,952	12	14,934	88	10,676	33	22,048	67
2003	8,462	55	6,936	45	1,940	12	14,828	88	10,402	32	21,764	68
2004	8,525	56	6,764	44	2,022	12	14,439	88	10,547	33	21,203	67
2005	8,730	57	6,713	43	2,095	13	13,902	87	10,825	34	20,630	66
2006	8,790	57	6,666	43	1,919	13	13,229	87	10,712	35	19,916	65
2007	8,429	56	6,528	44	1,844	13	12,330	87	10,274	35	18,881	65
2008	7,541	56	6,002	44	1,529	13	10,459	87	9,073	36	16,474	64
2009	6,849	55	5,525	45	1,444	13	9,599	87	8,296	35	15,141	65
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Since 1978 pickups and SUVs have a consistently higher percentage of rollover deaths than cars.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in rollover vs. no rollover crashes, 1978-2009
Year	Car occupants				Pickup occupants				SUV occupants
	Rollover		No rollover		Rollover		No rollover		Rollover		No rollover
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%
1978	6,422	23	21,476	77	1,989	39	3,114	61	520	61	332	39
1979	6,416	23	21,102	77	2,222	41	3,201	59	630	67	315	33
1980	6,862	25	20,420	75	2,263	41	3,226	59	735	65	389	35
1981	6,541	25	19,865	75	2,177	42	3,059	58	663	65	358	35
1982	5,477	24	17,667	76	1,935	40	2,844	60	571	66	291	34
1983	5,381	24	17,420	76	1,939	42	2,721	58	609	66	311	34
1984	5,525	24	17,957	76	2,048	42	2,836	58	587	66	299	34
1985	5,219	23	17,857	77	2,044	42	2,848	58	671	66	353	34
1986	5,996	24	18,884	76	2,371	44	2,963	56	737	65	394	35
1987	5,997	24	19,118	76	2,598	45	3,197	55	824	65	445	35
1988	6,227	24	19,598	76	2,762	45	3,327	55	815	62	505	38
1989	5,784	23	19,485	77	2,680	45	3,336	55	847	62	526	38
1990	5,695	23	18,718	77	2,713	45	3,319	55	910	61	570	39
1991	5,443	24	17,295	76	2,593	44	3,265	56	934	61	587	39
1992	4,944	23	16,880	77	2,479	45	2,997	55	879	63	511	37
1993	4,865	22	17,252	78	2,415	43	3,196	57	971	63	581	37
1994	5,112	23	17,510	77	2,393	43	3,211	57	1,102	61	707	39
1995	5,340	23	17,784	77	2,581	43	3,392	57	1,257	63	749	37
1996	5,323	23	18,104	77	2,539	43	3,389	57	1,429	65	781	35
1997	5,143	22	18,019	78	2,479	42	3,443	58	1,516	63	900	37
1998	5,122	23	17,235	77	2,537	43	3,367	57	1,703	63	1,008	37
1999	5,174	23	16,945	77	2,699	44	3,396	56	1,901	63	1,118	37
2000	4,997	23	16,988	77	2,529	42	3,467	58	2,067	62	1,270	38
2001	5,028	23	16,576	77	2,636	43	3,485	57	2,159	61	1,362	39
2002	5,243	24	16,764	76	2,715	45	3,343	55	2,474	62	1,548	38
2003	4,916	23	16,137	77	2,509	43	3,324	57	2,658	60	1,805	40
2004	4,781	23	15,779	77	2,519	44	3,197	56	2,949	62	1,823	38
2005	4,830	24	15,062	76	2,773	46	3,267	54	2,909	60	1,938	40
2006	4,739	25	14,295	75	2,781	47	3,096	53	2,919	59	2,054	41
2007	4,399	25	13,363	75	2,660	46	3,098	54	2,929	59	2,046	41
2008	3,982	25	11,709	75	2,368	47	2,653	53	2,510	58	1,840	42
2009	3,497	25	10,561	75	2,250	47	2,487	53	2,384	56	1,862	44

More than three-fourths of fatal rollovers are single-vehicle crashes.² The remaining facts will concentrate on single-vehicle rollovers.

A total of 6,849 passenger vehicle occupants died in single-vehicle rollover crashes in 2009, 9 percent less than in 2008 and 13 percent less than in 1978.

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths in single-vehicle rollover crashes, 1978-2009
Year	Car drivers	Pickup drivers	SUV drivers	All passenger vehicle drivers	All passenger vehicle occupants
1978	3,710	1,140	271	5,323	7,858
1979	3,610	1,263	329	5,396	8,010
1980	3,995	1,309	406	5,895	8,673
1981	3,826	1,291	364	5,687	8,211
1982	3,222	1,162	312	4,828	6,974
1983	3,169	1,120	319	4,732	6,951
1984	3,252	1,226	331	4,964	7,116
1985	3,076	1,202	360	4,773	6,900
1986	3,474	1,401	375	5,400	7,954
1987	3,427	1,535	403	5,528	8,162
1988	3,675	1,656	447	5,925	8,562
1989	3,309	1,629	463	5,551	8,060
1990	3,291	1,563	486	5,477	8,068
1991	3,092	1,595	470	5,282	7,749
1992	2,800	1,492	442	4,848	7,135
1993	2,664	1,462	494	4,729	7,002
1994	2,826	1,403	522	4,879	7,268
1995	3,005	1,556	602	5,284	7,802
1996	2,932	1,514	720	5,294	7,903
1997	2,818	1,469	754	5,178	7,712
1998	2,857	1,545	808	5,328	7,848
1999	2,866	1,667	999	5,644	8,255
2000	2,795	1,526	1,035	5,466	8,112
2001	2,836	1,651	1,063	5,654	8,375
2002	2,977	1,668	1,224	5,967	8,724
2003	2,755	1,595	1,331	5,789	8,462
2004	2,706	1,540	1,490	5,853	8,525
2005	2,761	1,711	1,478	6,074	8,730
2006	2,764	1,754	1,555	6,198	8,790
2007	2,633	1,683	1,516	5,934	8,429
2008	2,354	1,537	1,398	5,380	7,541
2009	2,095	1,479	1,275	4,901	6,849

Single-vehicle rollover crashes accounted for 46 percent of occupant deaths in SUVs in 2009, compared with 40 percent of occupant deaths in pickups and 21 percent in cars.

Deaths in single-vehicle rollover crashes as a percent of all occupant deaths, 2009
		Drivers			All occupants
		Single-vehicle rollover		All crashes	Single-vehicle rollover		All crashes
		Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num
Cars	Mini	111	16	676	142	16	887
	Small	693	22	3,161	940	22	4,369
	Midsize	677	22	3,097	966	22	4,331
	Large	470	21	2,291	667	20	3,300
	Very large	122	19	647	166	17	997
	All cars	2,095	21	9,996	2,916	21	14,058
Pickups	Small	416	33	1,245	508	33	1,533
	Large	742	42	1,779	971	42	2,329
	Very large	265	51	516	353	51	698
	All pickups	1,479	40	3,684	1,899	40	4,737
SUVs	Small	261	36	730	366	36	1,021
	Midsize	747	48	1,555	1,106	48	2,293
	Large	163	44	374	275	47	589
	Very large	87	47	186	164	53	312
	All SUVs	1,275	44	2,868	1,932	46	4,246
All passenger vehicles	All	4,901	29	16,791	6,849	29	23,437

 

 

Deaths in single-vehicle rollover crashes as a percent of all occupant deaths, 2009
		2WD			4WD
		Single-vehicle rollover		All crashes	Single-vehicle rollover		All crashes
		Num	%	Num	Num	%	Num
Pickups	Small	322	30	1,087	186	42	446
	Large	482	35	1,384	489	52	945
	Very large	71	41	174	282	54	524
	All pickups	882	33	2,668	960	50	1,921
SUVs	Small	115	33	353	251	38	668
	Midsize	509	53	968	597	45	1,325
	Large	120	47	255	155	46	334
	Very large	67	57	118	97	50	194
	All SUVs	811	48	1,694	1,109	44	2,532

Since 1978, driver death rates for single-vehicle rollover crashes have declined across all passenger vehicle types, particularly for SUVs. Single-vehicle crashes involving rollover accounted for 14 driver deaths per million registered passenger vehicles in 2009.

Driver deaths in single-vehicle rollover crashes per million registered passenger vehicles 1-3 years old, 1978-2009
Year	Car drivers	Pickup drivers	SUV drivers	All passenger vehicles
1978	32	78	141	41
1979	31	90	155	43
1980	37	83	168	47
1981	35	76	137	44
1982	31	65	129	38
1983	29	62	126	35
1984	27	72	69	34
1985	25	61	73	32
1986	24	70	62	32
1987	24	68	67	33
1988	26	70	55	34
1989	24	68	60	33
1990	25	68	60	34
1991	23	66	54	31
1992	20	56	40	27
1993	19	50	51	26
1994	19	42	37	25
1995	20	49	45	27
1996	24	47	55	31
1997	21	44	43	27
1998	21	43	43	28
1999	20	49	47	29
2000	18	46	42	27
2001	18	53	36	27
2002	19	52	36	28
2003	16	47	34	25
2004	15	44	30	23
2005	16	46	24	23
2006	15	44	19	21
2007	14	38	16	19
2008	13	32	12	16
2009	13	31	7	14

References

¹Kahane, C.J. 2003. Vehicle weight, fatality risk and crash compatibility of model year 1991-99 passenger cars and light trucks. Report no. DOT HS-809-662. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

²Deutermann, W. 2002. Characteristics of fatal rollover crashes. Report no. DOT HS-809-438. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.