Belted driver fatalities: Time of death and risk by injury severity

Figures & data

Table 1. Lap–shoulder-belted drivers, 15+ years old and not ejected in 1997+ MY vehicle crashes (NASS-CDS 1997–2015 weighted data).

			Fatal			% Fatal
Injury severity	MAIS	Not fatal	#	SE	Total	#	SE
No injury	0	11,860,000	1,569	1,153	11,860,000	0.013%	0.0097%
Minor injury	1	6,971,155	1,718	154	6,972,873	0.025%	0.0022%
Moderate injury	2	803,509	3,207	456	806,716	0.398%	0.057%
Serious injury	3	212,779	6,565	1,087	219,344	2.99%	0.50%
Severe injury	4	33,660	7,107	1,392	40,768	17.4%	3.4%
Critical injury	5	11,800	7,730	1,853	19,530	39.6%	9.5%
Maximum injury	6	15	4,935	809	4,950	99.7%	16.3%
Injured, unknown severity		449,193	5,101	2,135	454,294
Unknown if injured		227,385	42	38	227,427
Total		20,570,000	37,974	4,873	20,610,000	0.184%	0.024%
MAIS 0+F		19,892,918	32,831	4,873	19,924,180	0.165%	0.024%
MAIS 4–6		45,475	19,772	3,638	65,247	30.3%	5.58%
MAIS 4+F		45,475	37,974	3,489	83,449	45.5%	5.35%

Figure 1. Risk of death by injury severity with one standard error and Logist fit.

Figure 2. Fraction of nonejected belted driver deaths per hour up to 30 days after the crash (NASS-CDS 1997–2015 weighted data).

Figure 3. Cumulative fraction of nonejected belted driver deaths up to 30 days after the crash (NASS-CDS 1997–2015 weighted data).

Table 2. Severe-to-maximum (AIS 4+) injury in driver fatalities with lap–shoulder belts, 15+ years old, and not ejected in 1997+MY vehicles (NASS-CDS 1997–2015 weighted data).

		AIS 4+ injury by body region
Injury severity	MAIS	Head	Neck	Thorax	Abdomen	Spine	Lower extremity	Unspecified	Total
MAIS 0+F									19,924,180
Severe injury	4	4,383	0	4,894	864	318	240	0	10,700
Critical injury	5	12,863	0	7,282	1,569	800	263	54	22,831
Maximum injury	6	5,956	27	7,661	2,278	1,813	42	823	18,599
Total		23,203	27	19,837	4,712	2,931	545	877	52,130
Frequency
Severe injury	4	8.4%	0.0%	9.4%	1.7%	0.6%	0.5%	0.0%	20.5%
Critical injury	5	24.7%	0.0%	14.0%	3.0%	1.5%	0.5%	0.1%	43.8%
Maximum injury	6	11.4%	0.1%	14.7%	4.4%	3.5%	0.1%	1.6%	35.7%
Total		44.5%	0.1%	38.1%	9.0%	5.6%	1.0%	1.7%	100%
Rate/MAIS 4–6 fatals
Severe injury	4	0.22	0.000	0.25	0.04	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.54
Critical injury	5	0.65	0.000	0.37	0.08	0.04	0.01	0.00	1.15
Maximum injury	6	0.30	0.001	0.39	0.12	0.09	0.00	0.04	0.94
Total		1.17	0.001	1.00	0.24	0.15	0.03	0.04	2.64
MAIS 4–6 (all)									65,247
MAIS 4–6 (fatal)									19,772

Table 3. Summary of studies on fatality risk by injury severity (Note: There are different populations in the samples reported).

		Risk for death
					Current study of drivers
					Lap-shoulder belted		Unbelted
MAIS	Injury severity	Malliaris et al. (1982)	AAAM (1990)	AAAM (2005)	Risk	SE	Risk	SE
0	None				0.013%	0.0097%	0.004%	0.0025%
1	Mild	0.0%	0.0%	0.70%	0.025%	0.0022%	0.167%	0.0343%
2	Moderate	0.1%	0.1%–0.4%	0.80%	0.398%	0.057%	0.740%	0.188%
3	Serious	0.8%	0.8–2.3%	3.5%	2.99%	0.50%	5.53%	1.57%
4	Severe	7.9%	10%	14.6%	17.4%	3.4%	9.7%	1.8%
5	Critical	58.4%	50%	39.6%	39.6%	9.5%	44.0%	11.6%
6	Maximum	100%	Virtually unsurvivable	78.8%	99.7%	16.3%	98.1%	20.2%

Malliaris A, Hitchcock R, Hedlund J. A Search for Priorities in Crash Protection. Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers; 1982. SAE Technical Paper 820242.

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Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. The Abbreviated Injury Scale—1990 Revision. Des Plaines, IL: Author; 1990.

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Association for the Advancement of Automotive Medicine. The Abbreviated Injury Scale—2005 Revision. Barrington, IL: Author; 2005.

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