Fatalities

Occupant Fatality Rates by Vehicle Type & Size

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has routinely published passenger vehicle occupant fatality rates, both overall and in vehicles that rolled over, by the type of the vehicle, such as passenger cars, SUVs, pickup trucks or vans. These categories of vehicles are broad and may mask differences in rates that might exist between vehicles of different sizes within a type.

The occupant fatality rates show variation by the size of the vehicle within a vehicle type. In 2004, compact cars had an occupant fatality rate of 17.76 fatalities per 100,000 registered vehicles, followed by compact pickup trucks at 16.87, subcompact cars at 16.85 and midsize SUVs at 16.16. Large vans had the lowest occupant fatality rate at 9.34. Among vehicles that rolled over, midsize SUVs had an occupant fatality rate of 9.86 followed by full-size SUVs at 7.92 while full-size cars had the lowest occupant fatality rate at 2.47 fatalities per 100,000 vehicles.