NHTSA: 1747 Off Road Deaths in '07

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Off-road as in not on a public road, rather than mud plugging in a Jeep Wrangler. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is now in the bi-annual business of “reporting [non crash] injuries and fatalities involving motor vehicles not in traffic.” This year’s total: 841,000 injuries and 1747 fatalities. The Accident Reconstruction Newsletter reports the overlap between the NHTSA and the Darwin Awards: “More than half of the non crash fatalities occurred when a vehicle fell on a person who was under it or from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning. The most common types of non crash injuries seen in emergency departments were injuries while entering or exiting a vehicle (estimated 164,000 per year), injuries from closing doors (estimated 148,000 per year) and injuries from overexertion such as while unloading cargo or pushing a disabled vehicle (estimated 88,000 per year).” Let’s drill down on the morbid stuff . . .

Here’s a pdf of the short version of the NHTSA’s report. The fatality chart provides creative fodder for writers of “Six Feet Under, The Reunion.” Here’s how The Grim Reaper collected his souls, according to the “National Vital Statistics System special mortality file, 2003-2004”: Struck by falling vehicle (168), Carbon Monoxide Poisoning From Vehicle Exhaust (147), Falling from Vehicle (88), Vehicle Fire (57), Struck by Object (44), Hyperthermia (37), Hypothermia (14), Poisoning in Vehicle from Other Sources (9), Exploding Tire (7), Vehicle Window Asphyxia (5), Electrocution (4), Drowning (3), Closed in Trunk (3), Radiator Fluid Burns (2).

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Detroit-Iron Detroit-Iron on Apr 08, 2009

    A friend and I were trying to change the fluid in the transfer case of his CJ. With more enthusiasm than knowledge we went at it. We decided we would need to remove the bash plate. He was underneath it and we were both removing bolts when it dropped about an in right over his face as the last couple of bolts saved him from joining the "non crash fatalities" statistic.

  • Ronman Ronman on Apr 08, 2009

    Dang.... it's more than i originally thought. would be interesting if these numbers are released with the yearly traffic injuries and casualties report. never thought someone can die from Vehicle Window Asphyxia. i bet most if not all of them were children left in by their dumb ass parents. is there a stat on how many of the above are children? infants etc???

  • John Horner John Horner on Apr 08, 2009

    Which explains why I am so careful with jack stand placement when working under a car. I've seen way to many people crawl under a car while it was only supported by the POS jack they found in the trunk!

  • Robert.Walter Robert.Walter on Apr 08, 2009

    How is "closed in trunk" a source of fatalities? Is this something like 'trunk lid slammed on head'? Or "locked inside trunk so long, victim dehydrated, or turned to canibalism"?

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