Restraint Use and Ejection Status, 2003
Introduction
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 |
% |
||
| Passenger 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% |
|
| Source: NCSA FARS 2003 Annual Report File Note: Totals may not equal previously reported totals as occupants whose restraint use was coded as “Unknown” were pro-rated between the restraint used and unused categories. The pro-rated fatality counts have been rounded to the nearest integer. Percents do not add up to 100% across columns due to independent rounding. |
| For additional copies of this Crash•Stats, please call 1-800-934-8517 or fax your request to (202) 366-3189. For questions regarding the data reported in this document, contact Rajesh Subramanian [202-366-5371]. This document and other general information on highway safety may be accessed by internet users at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/AvailInf.html |
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