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Table 2-18: Motor Vehicle Fatalities, Vehicle-Miles, and Associated Rates by Highway Functional System

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  1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Fatalities                                
Rural, total 29,545 24,492 25,786 23,978 24,510 24,889 24,751 25,185 23,640 23,396 25,693 25,203 24,740 23,549 23,099 22,707
Interstate 2,263 2,141 2,707 2,675 2,905 3,033 3,105 3,244 3,199 3,105 3,297 3,241 3,246 3,216 2,870 2,658
Other arterialsa 12,268 9,940 9,893 9,947 9,458 9,821 9,594 9,573 8,913 8,692 9,358 9,823 10,061 8,968 8,768 8,758
Collectorb 10,004 8,209 8,852 7,401 7,481 7,578 7,593 7,595 7,147 7,305 7,974 7,726 7,353 7,154 7,242 7,027
Local 5,010 4,202 4,334 3,955 4,666 4,457 4,459 4,773 4,381 4,294 5,064 4,413 4,080 4,211 4,219 4,264
Urban, total 21,546 19,333 18,813 17,839 17,555 17,078 16,143 15,970 15,695 15,219 16,759 16,825 17,161 17,752 18,309 17,467
Interstate 2,184 2,025 2,252 2,154 2,323 2,281 2,283 2,353 2,388 2,371 2,452 2,374 2,516 2,658 2,619 2,608
Other arterialsa 12,752 12,521 11,742 10,916 10,756 10,243 9,902 9,628 9,442 8,838 9,702 9,827 10,003 10,413 10,672 9,876
Collector 2,226 1,696 1,427 1,441 1,290 1,399 1,037 1,031 987 1,007 1,136 1,197 1,339 1,361 1,478 1,437
Local 4,384 3,091 3,392 3,328 3,186 3,155 2,921 2,958 2,878 3,003 3,469 3,427 3,303 3,320 3,540 3,546
Vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) (millions)                                
Rural, total 672,030 730,728 868,878 933,289 960,194 999,277 1,032,528 1,062,623 1,084,961 1,105,083 1,128,160 1,085,385 1,070,248 1,037,937 1,037,069 1,035,303
Interstate 135,084 154,357 200,173 223,382 232,565 240,255 251,520 260,166 268,960 274,024 279,962 269,945 266,996 258,790 257,913 256,438
Other arterialsa 262,774 282,803 330,866 368,595 378,847 392,057 403,484 413,320 420,569 426,945 433,805 416,596 409,944 398,932 394,499 393,465
Collectorb 189,468 206,669 240,460 236,148 241,030 254,100 257,868 264,453 267,521 270,962 275,007 263,662 260,931 251,587 251,375 251,514
Local 84,704 86,899 97,379 105,164 107,752 112,865 119,656 124,684 127,911 133,152 139,386 135,182 132,377 128,628 133,282 133,886
Urban, total 855,265 1,044,098 1,275,484 1,489,534 1,523,886 1,552,956 1,595,620 1,627,618 1,664,842 1,676,379 1,727,596 1,805,508 1,892,265 1,951,870 1,977,047 1,994,519
Interstate 161,242 216,188 278,901 341,528 351,579 361,433 374,622 383,259 393,580 399,890 408,618 432,633 454,385 469,070 477,283 483,315
Other arterialsa 484,189 578,270 699,233 815,170 834,623 846,627 862,996 878,153 900,161 913,726 937,357 973,936 1,020,089 1,048,219 1,060,098 1,068,130
Collector 83,043 89,578 106,297 126,929 129,310 130,146 131,905 131,603 135,371 137,922 141,874 153,751 162,108 168,038 173,210 174,661
Local 126,791 160,062 191,053 205,907 208,374 214,750 226,097 234,603 235,730 224,841 239,747 245,188 255,683 266,543 266,456 268,413
Fatality rates per 100 million vehicle miles                                
Rural, total 4.40 3.35 2.97 2.57 2.55 2.49 2.40 2.37 2.18 2.12 2.28 2.32 2.31 2.27 2.23 2.19
Interstate 1.68 1.39 1.35 1.20 1.25 1.26 1.23 1.25 1.19 1.13 1.18 1.20 1.22 1.24 1.11 1.04
Other arterialsa 4.67 3.51 2.99 2.70 2.50 2.50 2.38 2.32 2.12 2.04 2.16 2.36 2.45 2.25 2.22 2.23
Collectorb 5.28 3.97 3.68 3.13 3.10 2.98 2.94 2.87 2.67 2.70 2.90 2.93 2.82 2.84 2.88 2.79
Local 5.91 4.84 4.45 3.76 4.33 3.95 3.73 3.83 3.43 3.22 3.63 3.26 3.08 3.27 3.17 3.18
Urban, total 2.52 1.85 1.47 1.20 1.15 1.10 1.01 0.98 0.94 0.91 0.97 0.93 0.91 0.91 0.93 0.88
Interstate 1.35 0.94 0.81 0.63 0.66 0.63 0.61 0.61 0.61 0.59 0.60 0.55 0.55 0.57 0.55 0.54
Other arterialsa 2.63 2.17 1.68 1.34 1.29 1.21 1.15 1.10 1.05 0.97 1.04 1.01 0.98 0.99 1.01 0.92
Collector 2.68 1.89 1.34 1.14 1.00 1.07 0.79 0.78 0.73 0.73 0.80 0.78 0.83 0.81 0.85 0.82
Local 3.46 1.93 1.78 1.62 1.53 1.47 1.29 1.26 1.22 1.34 1.45 1.40 1.29 1.25 1.33 1.32

a Urban other arterials is the sum of other freeways and expressways, other principal arterials, and minor arterials. Rural other arterials is the sum of other principal arterials and minor arterials.

b Rural collector is the sum of major and minor collectors.

NOTES:

Includes the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Fatality numbers reflect original numbers received by FHWA from NHTSA. Thus, the fatality numbers in this table could be slightly different from the revised NHTSA numbers that appear in other tables in this volume.

SOURCES:

Fatalities:

1980-95: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table FI-220, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of March 2009.

1996-97: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table FI-1, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of March 2009.

1998-2007: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table FI-20, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of March 2009.

Vehicle miles:

1980-95: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Highway Statistics Summary to 1995 (Washington, DC: July 1997), table VM-202, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of March 2009.

1996-2007: Ibid., Highway Statistics (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table VM-2, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/hss/hsspubs.cfm as of March 2009.

Fatality rates:

Calculated by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
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