Fatal Accident Reporting System Data Research Articles

Are Minimum Wages a Silent Killer? New Evidence on Drunk Driving Fatalities

AbstractIn volume 94 of this REVIEW, Adams, Blackburn, and Cotti (ABC), using Fatal Accident Reporting System data from 1998 to 2006, find that a 10% increase in the minimum wage is associated with a 7% to 11% increase in alcohol-related fatal traffic accidents involving teen drivers. We find this result does not hold when the analysis period is expanded to include 1991 through 2013. In addition, auxiliary analyses provide no support for income-driven increases in alcohol consumption, the primary mechanism posited by ABC. Together, our results suggest that minimum wage increases are not a silent killer.

Car mass and fatality risk: has the relationship changed?

The finding that the relative safety disadvantage of small compared with large cars is less for post-1980 cars than for pre-1980 cars has stimulated speculation that increasing fuel economy standards would increase fatalities less than previously expected. Fatal crashes between two cars of similar model year were examined to see whether this would be the case. Driver fatality risk in relation to car mass was examined with Fatal Accident Reporting System data for crashes between two cars of a specific model year. The relative risk for driver fatality in the lighter car compared with the other driver's risk in a car 50% heavier was as follows: for 1966 through 1979 cars, the risk was between 3.7 and 5.1; for 1984 cars, 2.6; and for 1990 cars, 4.1. The results suggest that the lesser mass effect observed for mid-1980s cars occurred because improved crashworthiness features appeared in small cars earlier than in large cars. As all cars are redesigned, the relationship between risk and mass can be expected to approach that observed earlier in pre-1980 cars. If so, future fatality increases from fuel economy increases will be greater than estimated on the basis of mid-1980 data.

Automobile driver fatalities in frontal impacts: air bags compared with manual belts.

The effectiveness of air bags was estimated in this study by comparing driver fatalities in frontal crashes with driver fatalities in nonfrontal crashes, for cars with air bags and manual belts and cars with manual belts only. Fatal Accident Reporting System data for drivers fatally injured during 1985 to 1991 in 1985 to 1991 model year cars that were equipped with air bags in or before model year 1991 were analyzed. Driver fatalities in frontal crashes in air bag cars were 28% lower than those in comparable cars with manual belts only. This percentage was used for estimating the overall fatality reduction in air bag cars. The reduction was greater in large cars (50%) than in midsize cars (19%) or in small cars (14%). Air bags reduced driver fatalities in frontal crashes involving ejection by about 9%. Fatalities in frontal crashes among drivers who were reportedly using manual belts at the time of the crash were reduced by about 15%. The comparable reduction among drivers who were reportedly not using manual belts was 31%. It was estimated that air bags reduced the total number of all driver fatalities by about 19%.

Mass ratio and relative driver fatality risk in two-vehicle crashes

The relative risk, R, of a driver fatality in the lighter of two cars compared to the risk in the heavier is determined as a function of the ratio, μ, of the mass of the heavier to that of the lighter, using Fatal Accident Reporting System data for 1975–1989. In all of many cases investigated, the data fitted well the functional relationship R = Aμ”. When the cars differ only in mass, A = 1 ; if they differ in another dichotomous characteristic, such as old compared to new model years, A estimates the influence of this other characteristic when the masses are equal. The results show that if a driver transfers to a car lighter by 1%, that driver's fatality risk in a two-car crash compared to the risk to the other involved driver increases by between 2.7% and 4.3%, the specific value depending on other factors, such as model year. When one car crashes head-on into the side of another of equal mass, driver fatality risk in the side-impacted car compared to that in the frontally impacted car is 4.5 ± 0.6 times as great for right-side impacts and 10.1 ± 1.7 times as great for left-side impacts. Extending the analysis to vehicles other than cars provides empirical evidence that two previously stated “laws” apply systematically over a wide spectrum of vehicles, from mopeds, through motorcycles, small cars, large cars, small trucks to large trucks. These laws are that, when other factors are equal, (1) the lighter the vehicle, the less risk to other road users, and (2) the heavier the vehicle, the less risk to its occupants.

Drinking and driving by young females

Recent research indicates that women are drinking and driving more often and that the proportion of female drivers involved in fatal crashes is increasing. U.S. Fatal Accident Reporting System data (Fell 1987) suggest that although overall alcohol involvement rates in fatal crashes have been declining for the past four years, the rates for females aged 21–24 have not, and their alcohol involvement rate in late-night single vehicle (SV) crashes, a surrogate measure of alcohol-related (A/R) crashes, is almost as high as that of male drivers. This paper examines the involvement of North Carolina (NC) female drivers who are less than 35 years of age for the period of 1976 through 1985 and reports on trends in driver licensing, arrests for drinking and driving, SV nighttime and A/R crashes, and measured blood alcohol levels in fatalities. It identifies an emerging driving-while-impaired (DWI) problem for younger women, particularly those 21 to 24 years of age. Significant trends pertaining to the involvement of women will have implications for the design and implementation of educational, deterrence, enforcement, and rehabilitation programs.

Relative risk of death from ejection by crash type and crash mode

In virtually all circumstances, the chance of survival in a crash is much greater if the occupant is not ejected from the vehicle. Several estimates of the increased risk of death as a result of ejection (ranging from 2.5 to 25) have been made, but none were specific to the crash mode and most did not control for crash severity. The current study examined the relative risk of fatality due to ejection, by crash type and crash mode, using the Fatal Accident Reporting System data from the years 1982 through 1986. Crash type was defined as either single vehicle or multivehicle and crash mode included rollover, nonrollover, and/or direction of impact. Crash severity was controlled for using a paired comparison method of analysis. Both crash type and crash mode were found to have substantial effects on the relative risk of death due to ejection. In addition, risk differences across seating position exist. Depending on crash mode or type, the risks ranged from about 1.5 to 8. Single-vehicle rollover crashes have the highest increased risk of death due to ejection: about eightfold for the driver and sevenfold for the right front passenger.