Original analysis · NHTSA FARS 2020–2024

What happens when a vehicle is involved in a fatal crash?

Search 550 vehicle nameplates and examine both sides of the crash: occupants in that vehicle, people in other vehicles, nonmotorists, seating and restraint circumstances, event sequences, and collision partners.

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Written May 15, 2026 Updated July 28, 2026

189,208fatal crashes

291,638vehicles involved

461,187people recorded

641,190vehicle events

5final annual releases

Nameplate explorer

Trace the people, circumstances, and crash sequence

Results combine crash years 2020–2024 and all recorded model years for the selected nameplate. Use the model-year bands to see how much of the record comes from older vehicles.

Loading the five-year dataset…

Fatal-crash context, not a safety rating

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vehicle involvements

distinct fatal crashes

occupants recorded

deaths in selected vehicles

Who was harmed?

Deaths connected with these fatal-crash involvements

Each selected vehicle involvement is the point of reference. In the rare crash with two vehicles of the same nameplate, a person outside those vehicles can be associated with both involvements.

Inside the selected vehicle

In other vehiclesDrivers and passengers in collision-partner vehicles

Outside vehiclesPedestrians, bicyclists, and other nonmotorists

Vehicle age mix

Model-year bands in the record

These are fixed bands, not manufacturer generations. They prevent an old fleet from being mistaken for a current design.

Crash circumstances

Rollover and fire flags

Counts show whether the selected vehicle was coded with each circumstance. They are not causal findings.

vehicles with rollover

vehicles with fire/explosion

Occupant circumstances

Seat position, restraint, ejection, and airbag coding

These are distributions among occupants in fatal crashes. They cannot show how protective a belt or airbag is without a comparison group from nonfatal travel.

Seat position

Restraint

Ejection

Airbag

Bar length = occupants in that category. The text at right reports involved occupants and fatalities.

Crash sequence

Most frequent coded events

A vehicle can have several ordered events, so these counts can exceed vehicle involvements.

Outcome-defining event

Most harmful event

Investigators identify one event that produced the most severe injury or damage for each vehicle.

Collision partners

What the selected vehicle encountered

Distinct vehicle pairs found in the FARS event sequence. “Deaths in partner” counts occupants of that partner vehicle—not pedestrians or occupants of the selected vehicle.

Partner type	Distinct encounters	Deaths in partner vehicle

All light vehicles

Collision-partner matrix

Rows are the selected/reference vehicle class; columns are the collision partner. Each cell shows distinct encounters in fatal crashes. Hover or focus a cell for the number of occupants who died in the partner vehicle.

The matrix is directional. One two-vehicle collision usually contributes one cell in each direction because either vehicle can be the reference vehicle.

Visible uncertainty

Data quality and missingness

FARS is carefully investigated, but some fields remain unknown or not reported. We keep those records visible rather than silently assigning them to a favorable category.

97.0% Vehicle identity known 282,925 of 291,638 eligible records

98.5% Seat position known 406,952 of 413,155 eligible records

87.9% Restraint use known 363,241 of 413,155 eligible records

98.5% Ejection status known 407,078 of 413,155 eligible records

81.3% Airbag status known 335,916 of 413,155 eligible records

Reproducible by design

Methods and definitions

The local build joins the final National CSV crash, vehicle, person, and vehicle-event tables on year, case number, vehicle number, and person number. Vehicle names use NHTSA vPIC make/model fields. The public file includes nameplates with at least 20 involvements to reduce unstable, identifying-small cells.

Fatality means a person coded by FARS as having died within 30 days of the crash. “Other vehicle” and “outside vehicles” are relationships to each selected vehicle involvement, not findings about legal fault.

Primary source

NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) →

Crash years: 2020–2024
Release status: Final annual files
Page updated: 2026-07-28
Geography: United States

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