Administrator’s Message

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is pleased to present its Traffic Safety Facts 2004: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System. This report combines data from two of our key crash databases, providing statistics on traffic crashes of all severities.

NHTSA’s mission is to reduce deaths, injuries, and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes. This past year we continued to make major strides toward reaching these goals. In 2004, the Nation’s crash fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel was the lowest (1.44) since record keeping began 30 years ago and remained below 1.50 for the second consecutive year. 2004 was also the second year in a row that fatalities from motor vehicle crashes declined. The number of police-reported motor vehicle crashes occurring on our highways dropped to under 6.2 million from over 6.3 million in 2003, and persons injured in these crashes continued a steady decline. On average, a police-reported motor vehicle crash occurred every 5 seconds, a person was injured every 11 seconds, and someone was killed every 12 minutes.

Major campaigns to increase safety belt use and to reduce impaired driving, and the efforts of some State legislatures to pass more effective safety belt and drunk driving laws, were major contributors to the reduction in fatalities and in the fatality rate. Specifically, alcohol-related fatalities declined significantly in 2004, to 16,694, the second consecutive year in which alcohol-related fatalities declined. The number of persons killed while not wearing a safety belt also continued to decline, which may reflect overall increases in safety belt use. Unfortunately, bad driving behaviors continue, as 14,409 persons were killed in crashes that involved a driver or nonoccupant with blood alcohol concentration of .08 or greater, and 55 percent of those killed in passenger vehicles were not wearing safety belts.

Today, drivers on our Nation’s highways are safer than they have ever been, in part because of the safer cars, higher safety belt use, and stronger safety laws, all of which NHTSA has helped champion. But as long as the number of highway deaths remains as high as it is, NHTSA will keep advocating for the kind of vehicles, roads, and driving habits that make people safer in their cars and trucks. The progress we’ve made reflects NHTSA’s strong commitment to improved safety. And credit must also go to those States where safety also is a high priority.

I again want to acknowledge the hard work of the many people in States and localities throughout the country who collect, code, and report much of the information contained in this document. Quality information is critical to NHTSA’s efforts in our important mission of saving lives. We cannot do our part to accomplish that mission without their dedicated efforts.

I hope users of this publication find the information helpful.

Jacqueline Glassman
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration