Safety and Security

Safety and security for travelers, vehicles, and transportation systems

Safety (chapter 2, section B)

• There were 45,346 fatalities in transportation accidents in the United States in 2006, of which 94 percent involved highway motor vehicles [B-1].
• In 2006, more than 42 thousand motorists and nonmotorists were killed in crashes involving motor vehicles, down 2 percent compared with 2005; and about 2.6 million people were injured. [B-1, B-4]
• There were 1.43 fatalities per 100 million vehicle-miles of highway travel in 2006, the lowest rate ever recorded by the U.S. Department of Transportation. [B-1, C-26]
• A total of 30,521 passenger vehicle (including light trucks, i.e., SUV’s, vans, etc.) occupants were killed in traffic crashes in 2006, down 0.3 percent since 2005. [B-2]
• There were 5,557 pedestrians and pedalcyclists killed in traffic crashes in 2006. [B-1]
• 4,810 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes in 2006, 5 percent more than in 2005. [B-1]
• There were 213 transit related fatalities in 2006, down 9.7 percent from 2005. [B-1]
• 68 people were killed in U.S. domestic commercial aviation accidents (including air carriers, commuter carriers, and air taxis) in 2006, while 698 fatalities resulted from general aviation accidents. [B-1]
• There were 48 waterborne commercial vessel-related fatalities and 710 recreational boating fatalities in 2006. [B-1]
• There were 19 gas pipeline fatalities in 2006. [B-1]
• Of the 909 railroad-related fatalities in 2006, 369 fatalities were at highway-rail grade crossings, and the other 540 fatalities were primarily trespasser-related. [B-1]
• An estimated 2.6 million people suffered some kind of transportation-related injury in 2006. About 99 percent of these injuries resulted from highway crashes. [B-4]

Security (chapter 2, section F)

• The transportation sector used 19 percent more energy in 2006 (28.4 quadrillion British thermal units—Btu) than it did in 1995 (23.85 quadrillion Btu). [F-1]
• Transportation consumed 67.9 percent of U.S. petroleum usage in 2006. [F-3]
• Travel in passenger cars was 7.1 percent more energy efficient in 2005 than in 1995. [F-4]
• The total number of prohibited items intercepted at airport screening checkpoints more than doubled between 2004 and 2005; the large increase was primarily due to the prohibition of lighters on board beginning in April 2005.  [F-5]
• The number of firearms intercepted at airport screening checkpoints jumped from 650 in 2004 to 2,217 in 2005. [F-5]
• The number of international piracy and armed robberies at sea steadily declined from 452 in 2003 to 241 in 2006. [F-6]