Lives Saved by Vehicle Safety Technologies and Associated Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, 1960 to 2012 – Passenger Cars and LTVs – With Reviews of 26 FMVSS and the Effectiveness of Their Associated Safety Technologies in Reducing Fatalities, Injuries, and Crashes

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began in 1975 to evaluate the effectiveness of vehicle safety technologies associated with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. By June 2014, NHTSA had evaluated the effectiveness of virtually all the life-saving technologies introduced in passenger cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs), and vans from about 1960 up through about 2010. A statistical model estimates the number of lives saved from 1960 to 2012 by the combination of these life-saving technologies. Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data for 1975 to 2012 documents the actual crash fatalities in vehicles that, especially in recent years, include many safety technologies. Using NHTSA’s published effectiveness estimates, the model estimates how many people would have died if the vehicles had not been equipped with any of the safety technologies. In addition to equipment compliant with specific Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) in effect at that time, the model tallies lives saved by installations in advance of the FMVSS, back to 1960, and by non-compulsory improvements, such as pretensioners and load limiters for seat belts. FARS data has been available since 1975, but an extension of the model allows estimates of lives saved in 1960 to 1974. A previous NHTSA study using the same methods estimated that vehicle safety technologies had saved 328,551 lives from 1960 through 2002. The agency now estimates 613,501 lives saved from 1960 through 2012. The annual number of lives saved grew from 115 in 1960, when a small number of people used lap belts, to 27,621 in 2012, when most cars and light trucks and vans (LTVs) were equipped with numerous modern safety technologies and belt use on the road achieved 86 percent.

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 525p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01552162
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: DOT HS 812 069
  • Files: HSL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
  • Created Date: Jan 29 2015 1:57PM