Preliminary Report from Analysis of Penn DOT Vehicle Crash Data for 2003 - 2005

Fact Sheet: Pennsylvania and Lehigh Valley

A reportable crash is an incident involving at least one automobile which sustained enough damage that it cannot be driven and/or in which an occupant sustained at least a minor injury.

Statewide, across a three-year period from 2003 thru 2005, there were 411,460 reported crashes in Pennsylvania and of these, 4294 crashes involved at least one fatality.

In 2006 Penn DOT reported that there were 128,342 crashes resulting in 1525 deaths and 96,597 injuries.

The fatality rate for these crashes is approximately 12 deaths per 1000 crashes.

In 2006, across the State of Pennsylvania, approximately 1 person out of every 8158 people was killed in a reportable traffic crash, for a rate of 15 crashes per hour and 1 death every 6 hours.

Approximately 1 out of every 129 Pennsylvania residents was injured in a crash.

Across that same three year period in the Lehigh Valley there were 24,619 crashes involving 62,948 people. These crashes resulted in 193 deaths and 14542 injuries.

In the Lehigh Valley for the year 2005, there were 8149 crashes resulting in 77 deaths and 4270 injuries.

The rate of fatalities for these crashes is slightly lower than the Pennsylvania State rate, at approximately 9.5 deaths per 1000 crashes.

Based on US Census data for the year 2000 there is on average approximately 1 death for every 8615 residents of the Lehigh Valley, a rate slightly less that the State.

Approximately 1 out of every 131 residents of the Lehigh Valley was injured in a crash, a rate also slightly lower that the State.

In the Lehigh Valley, between 2003 and 2005, Twenty Nine (29) teens were killed and 20 young adults died in car crashes. An additional 3770 were injured.

This represents 25% of all deaths and 32% of all injuries, yet this group represents approximately 12% of all drivers.

Report:

Young drivers (age 16 through 19 years old) account for approximately 4% of the total number of drivers on Pennsylvania roads, however, of those crashes in which the age of the driver has been recorded, approximately 17% involved a driver age 19 or younger.

The next highest age group for crashes is the 20 to 24 year olds. This group comprises just 7.5% of all Pennsylvania drivers yet accounts for an additional 16% of all crashes in which the age of the driver is known. Together these groups account for nearly 33% of all crashes in Pennsylvania yet comprise only 12 % of licensed drivers.

The percentages of fatal crashes and major injuries for Lehigh and Northampton counties are very similar to the Pennsylvania state total. Of the 24,619 crashes, approximately 45% of crashes did not involve an injury to driver or occupant. However over 50% resulted in an injury and over 3% resulted in death and serious injury.

Percentage of Injury Categories for Lehigh Valley Crashes: 2003 – 2005

Additionally of those persons killed on Pennsylvania roads, approximately 15% involved a driver between 16 and 19 years old. Approximately 20% of those individuals receiving major injuries were in car driven by a person 19 years old or younger.

Approximately 25 % of all car related highway deaths involved crashes in which the driver was between ages 16 to 24 years old. Additionally over 30% of all injuries occur to this age group as well (See Table #4 Appendix).

In all age categories, the risk of injury and death is greater for male drivers. An examination of gender by maximum severity of injury indicated that for males the number of deaths is nearly three times as high as for female drivers regardless of age of driver. The percentage of injury per crashes is more than twice as high.

SELECTED RISK FACTORS:

Alcohol Use:

In an examination of risk factors associated with crash deaths and injuries, several factors were selected that are thought to be typically associated with young drivers. The first set of factors includes Alcohol Use, Speeding, Cell Phone Use, and Aggressive Driving. These factors are typical of behaviors associated with risk taking, impulsivity, and poor judgment. Surprisingly, many of these factors are common to older drivers as well.

The rate of occurrence within Lehigh and Northampton counties for these risk factors across all drivers is consistent with statewide rates.

The first factor to be examined reflects some good news. Overall the rate of alcohol related crashes if significantly lower for drivers age 16-19. Of all alcohol related crashes that occurred between 2003 and 2005, 6% involved a young driver age 16 to 19 years old.

Percentage of Alcohol related Crashes by Age Group

Unfortunately, even within this underage group, the rate of alcohol-related crashes increased as drivers got older. In addition to maturation issues related to drinking, access to alcohol and less supervision may contribute to significantly increased rates by age 18.

Percentage of Alcohol related Crashed by Age Group

Age Categories			Alcohol Use		Total
			No	Yes	No
	16-19	Count	3926	137	4063
		% within Age	96.6%	3.4%	100.0%
	20-24	Count	3314	478	3792
		% within Age	87.4%	12.6%	100.0%
	25-29	Count	2067	307	2374