The 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts series features the latest trends and data on various levels of traffic safety, including pedestrian and bicyclist safety, drug and alcohol-impaired driving, and emergency medical services.
UC Berkeley Safe Transportation Research and Education Center (SafeTREC) is excited to announce the release of the 2024 series of Traffic Safety Fact Sheets, which feature traffic safety data and trends at the national and state level on twelve road safety topics. The fact sheets are based on statistics from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS). FARS provides data on fatal traffic crashes within the United States, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and SWITRS consists of motor vehicle crash data collected and maintained by the California Highway Patrol.
This series also highlights the Safe System approach to road safety, which the United States Department of Transportation uses to work towards zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries. This approach recognizes that humans are vulnerable and make mistakes, and therefore a system of road safety should be designed with multiple layers of protection and many redundancies to protect road users, especially those who are most vulnerable. The Community Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Program (CPBSP) has named six elements crucial to the Safe System approach: policies, planning, and safety data; safe speeds; safe streets design; how people use the road; post-crash response; and capacity strengthening.
Bicycle Safety
Pedestrian Safety
Pedestrian crashes are defined as crashes where one or more victims is a pedestrian. While walking is gaining in popularity as a mode of transportation, pedestrian fatality rates rise in conjunction with it. Analyses presented in the pedestrian program area include fatal and serious injuries to pedestrians. The FARS only includes pedestrians on foot, whereas the SWITRS fatal and serious injury analysis includes pedestrians and persons on personal conveyances, such as skateboards and wheelchairs. Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Pedestrian Safety.
Motorcycle Safety 
Crashes involving motorcycles are a major traffic safety concern in the United States. Since motorcyclists are more susceptible to injury than people in cars during crashes, they comprise a disproportionate share of all injured and killed vehicle occupants. In 2022, motorcyclists comprised 14.6% of all traffic deaths in the United States. For comparison, motorcycles made up 3.4% of all registered vehicles in the United States in 2022 and accounted for only 0.7% of all Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Motorcycle Safety.
Occupant Protection and Child Passenger Safety
Restraint devices, such as seat belts, are a key element of motor vehicle occupant protection systems. Analyses presented in the occupant protection program area include fatal and serious injuries where a driver or passenger in a passenger vehicle was unrestrained. Occupant protection crashes in this webpage are defined as crashes where one or more occupants in a passenger vehicle was unrestrained. Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Occupant Protection and Child Passenger Safety.
Emergency Medical Services
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) play a critical role post-crash to reduce fatalities and serious injuries. Studies have shown that an effective emergency trauma care system can improve survival from serious injuries and decrease crash fatalities. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) cites post-crash care as a key element of a Safe System. Specifically, post-crash care refers to emergency first response and transport to medical facilities, as well as forensic analysis of the crash site and traffic incident management. Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Emergency Medical Services.
Alcohol-Impaired and Alcohol-Involved Driving
Drug-Involved Driving
Older Adult Road Users
The older adult population in the United States aged 65 and older is expected to almost double between 2016 and 2060, from 49.2 million to almost 95 million people. As drivers age, physical and mental changes — including reduced visual acuity, increased fragility, restricted movement, and cognitive impairment — may directly and indirectly result in driving impairments. Analyses presented in this section include fatal and serious injuries to drivers, passengers, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other non-motor vehicle occupants aged 65 and older. Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Older Adult Road Users.
Speeding-Related and Other Crashes
A speeding-related crash is defined as one in which a driver is racing, driving too fast for the conditions, or driving in excess of the posted speed limit. Speeding reduces a driver’s ability to steer safely around curves or objects, reduces the amount of time a driver has to react to a dangerous situation, and extends safe stopping distances. Designing streets to limit the impact of speeding-related crashes and protecting people even when they make unsafe decisions are part of the Safe Roads and Safe Road Users elements of the United States Department of Transportation’s Safe System Approach. It also includes eliminating speeding and other unsafe behavior through enforcement. Read the full 2024 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Speed-Related and Other Crashes.
Distracted Driving
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) defines distracted driving as any activity that diverts attention from safe driving. Examples of distracted driving include but are not limited to talking or texting on cell phones, eating and drinking, talking to people inside the vehicle, and manipulating audio systems or navigation systems. Nationally, 3308 people were killed in distracted driving crashes in 2022. Read the full 2023 SafeTREC Traffic Safety Facts: Distracted Driving.
Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.