Characteristics of Winter-Precipitation-Related Transportation Fatalities in the United States

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AbstractWinter precipitation can be very disruptive to travel by aircraft and by motor vehicles. Vehicle fatalities due to winter precipitation are considered “indirect” and are not counted in Storm Data, the publication commonly used to evaluate losses from meteorological hazards. The goal of this study is to examine the spatial and temporal characteristics of these indirect transportation fatalities that involve winter precipitation for the period 1975–2011. Motor vehicle fatalities were gathered from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) database, while aviation fatalities were collected from the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Aviation Accident database. Statistical analysis and geographic information systems (GIS) were used to assess the spatial and temporal characteristics of these deaths. Most winter-precipitation-related motor vehicle fatalities occur during the daylight hours. Fatal motor vehicle accident rates are higher than expected in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, while winter-precipitation-related aviation fatalities are most common in the western United States. Vehicle fatality counts due to winter weather are compared to fatality counts for various hazards from Storm Data to highlight the differences between the datasets. Because of the exclusion of vehicle fatalities, Storm Data underestimates by an order of magnitude the number of fatalities that involve winter weather each year. It is hoped that a better understanding of winter precipitation mortality can be applied in order to reduce fatalities in the future.