RITA | BTS | Table 2-29: Motor Vehicle Fatal Crashes by Posted Speed Limit

Table 2-29: Motor Vehicle Fatal Crashes by Posted Speed Limit

	1975	1980	1985	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	(R) 2008	2009	2010
TOTAL fatal crashes	39,161	45,284	39,196	39,836	36,937	34,942	35,780	36,254	37,241	37,494	37,324	37,107	37,140	37,526	37,862	38,491	38,477	38,444	39,252	38,648	(R) 37,435	34,172	30,862	30,196
Under 55 mph, total	15,233	20,079	19,278	19,136	17,507	16,827	16,985	16,948	17,439	17,345	17,258	17,018	16,963	17,054	17,582	17,651	17,422	17,758	18,461	18,327	17,767	16,555	15,058	20,816
5,10,15, 20, 25 mph^a	2,617	2,865	2,504	2,234	2,097	1,911	1,895	1,890	1,893	1,896	1,955	1,873	1,863	1,827	1,919	1,897	1,883	1,904	1,947	1,972	2,054	1,910	1,700	2,196
30, 35 mph	6,099	8,527	7,890	7,756	6,908	6,696	6,759	6,565	6,681	6,445	6,383	6,025	5,946	6,079	6,260	6,090	5,995	6,064	6,337	6,347	5,946	5,773	5,141	6,849
40, 45 mph	4,276	6,256	6,812	7,092	6,608	6,345	6,454	6,632	6,938	7,096	7,132	7,349	7,245	7,315	7,576	7,784	7,717	7,964	8,359	8,172	7,994	7,343	6,679	9,610
50 mph	2,241	2,431	2,072	2,054	1,894	1,875	1,877	1,861	1,927	1,908	1,788	1,771	1,909	1,833	1,827	1,880	1,827	1,826	1,818	1,836	1,773	1,529	1,538	2,161
55 mph and above, total	16,095	20,352	18,871	19,749	18,630	17,450	18,144	18,698	19,140	19,460	19,251	19,333	19,373	19,735	19,416	19,898	19,995	19,780	19,857	19,252	18,675	16,771	14,990	15,054
55 mph	16,094	20,352	18,863	17,556	16,543	15,444	15,980	16,512	16,753	14,097	12,897	12,522	12,184	12,143	11,847	12,268	12,155	11,893	11,760	11,337	10,997	9,820	8,859	8,853
60 mph	0	0	2	18	9	4	9	13	16	523	935	1,073	1,069	1,163	1,221	1,270	1,364	1,296	1,347	1,359	1,332	1,236	1,078	1,062
65 mph	1	0	2	2,175	2,078	2,002	2,155	2,173	2,323	3,214	3,311	3,421	3,537	3,686	3,721	3,742	3,848	3,856	3,966	3,960	3,816	3,424	3,040	3,059
70 mph	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	38	1,282	1,633	1,835	2,079	2,230	2,116	2,027	2,039	2,127	2,198	2,077	2,074	1,836	1,629	1,710
Over 70 mph	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	10	344	475	482	504	513	511	591	589	608	586	519	456	455	384	370
Unknown ^b	7,833	4,853	1,047	951	800	665	651	608	662	689	815	756	804	737	864	942	1,060	906	934	1,069	(R) 993	846	814	1,336

KEY: mph = miles per hour; R = revised.

^aThe "No Statutory Limit" speed limit designation is included in this category.

^b The "blank" designation is included in this category. The 2010 figure includes fatal crashes where the speed limit was not reported.

NOTES

In 1974, Congress enacted a national maximum speed limit of 55 miles per hour (mph). Amendments in 1987 and 1991 allowed states to increase speed limits to 65 mph on rural Interstates and similar highways.

The National Maximum Speed Limit was repealed in late 1995; speed limits are again set by the states, some of which have raised their maximum speed limits to 70 mph or above.

SOURCES

1975-93: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Traffic Safety Facts 2000, DOT HS 809 337 (Washington, DC: December 2001), table 30, and the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) Web-Based Encyclopedia, available at http://www-fars.nthsa.dot.gov as of November 2003.

1994-2010: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Center for Statistics and Analysis, Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), Web-Based Encyclopedia, available at http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/ as of Mar. 9, 2012.

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