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Mortality – Motor Vehicle Crash, Pedestrian

Motor vehicle crash deaths are preventable and are a leading cause of death among young persons. This indicator reports the crude rate of pedestrians killed by motor vehicles per 100,000 population. Fatality counts are based on the location of the crash and not the decedent’s residence.

Note: Fatality counts are based on the location of the crash and not the decedent’s residence.

Source

Source Description

The Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data is a census of all police-reported qualifying fatal crashes that occur within the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. To be included in the file set, a crash must involve a motor vehicle travelling on a traffic way customarily open to the public, and must result in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash. Police report data is collected by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) analysts located in each state. There is no Federal mandate for crash reporting; however, on a voluntary basis most States collect a similar core set of information about fatal crashes. Incompatible data is recoded for inclusion in the FARS database.

More information is available in the NHTSA’s Crash Data Collection Programs report to congress, and online at the Fatality Analysis Reporting System website.

Methodology

Crash-related data are acquired using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) FTP Site raw data files. Fatalities for pedestrians are analyzed at the address-level and aggregated to the report area-level (e.g., county; state) for the latest 5-year period to obtain a total fatality count. Pedestrian death figures include fatalities for all persons not in motor-vehicles (including those on personal conveyances such as bicycles, scooters, or skateboards). Fatality counts are based on the location of the crash, and not the decedent’s county of residence. Population data are acquired from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 decennial census. Pedestrian mortality rates are reported based on the average annual fatalities per 100,000 population using the following formula:

Mortality Rate = [Average Annual Deaths] / [Total Population] * 100,000.

For more information, please see the complete FARS Analytical User’s Manual.

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