Thousands Injured and Killed in Non-Driving Car Accidents

TheNewspaper.com: A Journal of Driving and Politics

Home >Miscellaneous Issues > Miscellaneous > Thousands Injured and Killed in Non-Driving Car Accidents

Subscribe via RSS or E-Mail

Back To Front Page

2/6/2009

Thousands Injured and Killed in Non-Driving Car Accidents
US Department of Transportation finds 841,000 injured in vehicle accidents that have nothing to do with driving.

Traffic Safety Facts

A US Department of Transportation study released last month showed that thousands are injured or killed each year in vehicle-related accidents that are wholly unrelated to driving. A total of of 1747 fatalities and 841,000 injuries are the result each year of non-traffic crashes and non-crash incidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency compiled the estimates to provide the first-ever look at the magnitude of accidents that cannot be resolved with a new law enforced with traffic citations.

Among the findings were that a total of 168 individuals are killed each year by falling vehicles with another 88 dying after they themselves fall out of a car. Five are killed by electric windows and three die while locked in the trunk. About 22 percent of injuries are caused while entering or exiting a vehicle. Twenty percent of injuries are caused by car doors while 10,000 find themselves in a hospital after an incident involving a hoist or a jack. NHTSA compiled the information from a number of sources including police reports, hospital records and an injury database maintained by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Annual Estimate of Non-crash Injuries by Incident Type

Injured by Closing Door	148,000
Overexertion	88,000
Boarding or Alighting: Falls	84,000
Struck or Struck by Other Vehicle Part (not door, hood or trunk)	74,000
Cut by Part of Vehicle	68,000
Boarding or Alighting: Other Injuries (such as strains or sprains)	44,000
Boarding or Alighting: Door Injury	36,000
Fall Against Vehicle	28,000
Fall From Vehicle (not boarding or alighting)	28,000
Struck by Other Product (usually cargo)	20,000
Radiator/Antifreeze Burns	9,000
Other Hoist/Jack Incident (not involving a tire)	8,000
Vehicle Fire Incident	3,000
Muffler/Exhaust Pipe Burns	3000
Closing of Vehicle Window	2,000
Carbon Monoxide From Vehicle Exhaust	2,000
Hoist/Jack Incident With Tire	2,000
Tire Explosion	1,000
Battery Acid Burn	1,000
Hyperthermia in Vehicle (excessive heat)	<1,000

View a summary of the results in a 150k PDF file at the source link below.

Source:

Not-in-Traffic Surveillance 2007 (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1/29/2009)

Permanent Link for this item
Return to Front Page

theNewspaper.com: A journal of the politics of driving