Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths*

Data Source

National Center for Health Statistics - Mortality Files

Data on deaths and births were provided by NCHS and drawn from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). These data are submitted to the NVSS by the vital registration systems operated in the jurisdictions legally responsible for registering vital events (i.e., births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths). In prior years of the Rankings, Premature Death was calculated by the National Center for Health Statistics, but this year the Mortality-All County (micro-data) file was requested. This allowed us to calculate Premature Death and Life Expectancy ourselves. While most calculations of mortality rates can be downloaded from CDC WONDER, the calculation of Years of Potential Life Lost and Life Expectancy requires raw data files. 

Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths is a rate

Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths is the number of deaths due to traffic accidents involving a motor vehicle per 100,000 population. Rates measure the number of events (e.g., deaths, births) in a given time period (generally one or more years) divided by the average number of people at risk during that period. Rates help us compare health data across counties with different population sizes.

Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths has changed over time

Prior to the 2013 County Health Rankings, non-traffic motor vehicle accidents were included in the definition of Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths. Starting in 2013, the County Health Rankings changed the definition of Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths to exclude non-traffic accidents to better align with Healthy People 2020.

Deaths are counted in the county of residence for the person who died, rather than the county where the death occurred

It is important to note that deaths are counted in the county of residence of the deceased. So, even if a motor vehicle crash death occurred across the state, the death is counted in the home county of the individual who died.

Some data are suppressed

A missing value is reported for counties with fewer than 10 motor vehicle crash deaths in the time frame.

Numerator

The numerator includes traffic accidents involving motorcycles, 3-wheel motor vehicles, cars, vans, trucks, buses, street cars, ATVs, industrial, agricultural, and construction vehicles, and bicyclists or pedestrians when colliding with any of these vehicles, over a 7-year period (ICD10 codes: V02-V04 (.1, .9), V09.2, V12-V14 (.3-.9), V19 (.4-.6), V20-V28 (.3-.9), V29-V79 (.4-.9), V80 (.3-.5), V81.1, V82.1, V83-V86 (.0-.3), V87 (.0-.8), and V89.2). Deaths due to boating accidents and airline crashes are not included in the numerator.

Denominator

The denominator is the aggregate annual population over the 7-year period.

This measure can be used to measure progress with some caveats. It is important to note that the estimate provided in the County Health Rankings is a 7-year average. However, in most counties, it is relatively simple to obtain single-year estimates from the resource included below. Motor vehicle crash deaths data can also be further broken down by year and vehicle type or pedestrian involvement. These breakdowns could help measure the impact of interventions specific to motor vehicle crash prevention.

Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:

• Age
• Gender
• Race

We recommend starting with the CDC Wonder database, which contains information on motor vehicle crash death rates by race, ethnicity, age, gender, geography, and more. Rates can be exported as raw or age-adjusted. Small counties might need to combine multiple years of data to see rates, as CDC suppresses any rates when there are fewer than 10 deaths.

In addition, many states support databases of motor vehicle-related hospitalizations or emergency department visits. You can find links to these databases in State-Specific Data Sources.

¹ National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Overview of motor vehicle crashes in 2019. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic Safety Facts Research Note. Report No. DOT HS 813 060. Published December 2020. Accessed February 14, 2022.

² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Transportation Safety – Cost Data and Prevention Policies. Last reviewed November 2, 2020. Access February 14, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/costs/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal 

³ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Vital Signs – Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths. Last reviewed July 6, 2016. Access February 14, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/motor-vehicle-safety/index.html

⁴ Caird JK, Johnston, KA, Willness CR, Asbridge M, Steel P. A meta-analysis of the effects of texting on driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2014; 71:311-318.