Incidence of law enforcement officer fatalities related to motor vehicle accidents

Abstract

A recent FBI report indicates that motor vehicle accidents (MVA) account for 71% of accidental law enforcement officer (LEO) fatalities. To better understand the factors surrounding these fatalities, a review of cases reported to the Officer Down Memorial Page (ODMP) was conducted. A total of 738 MVA fatalities over ten years were included in this analysis. When comparing younger (<34 years) to older officers (≥ 35 years), there was a statistically significant difference with more younger officers reported to have been going at a high rate of speed at the time of the accident (p = 0.011) and were involved more often in single car accidents (p = 0.0207). The data also indicated a fatality rate of 5.4 fatalities per 100,000 officers annually; twice that of other professionals involving high speed operations. Even given the downward trend of MVA fatalities, policy changes and training to help reduce these number of fatalities is warranted.