Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Statistics
Here’s a variety of statistics regarding vehicle types, counties, deaths, road conditions, drivers ages, and other information.
Department of Transportation Statistics
Every traffic crash involves three elements: the driver, roadway, and vehicle. Nationally, 85 to 90 percent of all traffic crashes involve some kind of driver error so as drivers, you can greatly impact traffic safety by driving smart and driving defensively. Of all drivers represented in crashes, the young driver and the mature driver are two groups that stand out.
Buckle up, read on, and enjoy the ride.
The statistics are for 2006 unless otherwise noted. There were:
98,307 passenger car crashes (includes injury, fatal, and property damage only crashes)
51,819 light truck/van/SUV crashes
6,657 heavy truck crashes
1,352 bicycle crashes
3,889 motorcycle crashes
523 school bus crashes
Of these 40,248 passenger car crashes were 2 vehicle collisions; 16,942 light truck/van/SUV crashes were 2 vehicle collisions; and 2,115 heavy trucks were involved in 2 vehicle collisions.
Since 2002, the number of fatal injuries for passenger car crashes has declined as well as the total number of overall passenger car crashes. For instance in 2002 there were 1,151 fatal car crashes and in 2006, 838.
However, the trend for fatal injuries of light truck/van/SUV crashes is on the rise. For instance in 2002 there were 366 fatal crashes and in 2006, 613 fatal crashes. In 2006, the rate of rollovers for light truck/van/and especially SUV was almost doubled the rollover rate for passenger cars.
Heavy trucks involved vehicle failures related to brakes, tires, or wheels and other mechanical failures.
Pennsylvania is comprised of 67 counties. Each county is made of local municipalities, a combination of cities, boroughs, first-class townships, and/or second-class townships. In total, there are approximately 2,500 municipalities throughout the 67 counties.
In 2006, Pennsylvania’s total population was 12,440,621 people. Urban counties, with their higher populations, number of vehicles, and vehicle-miles of travel, lend themselves to a higher number of crashes.
10 most populated counties were: Philadelphia (11.6%), Allegheny (9.8%), Montgomery (6.2%), Bucks (5.0%), Delaware (4.5%), Lancaster (4.0%), Chester (3.9%), York (3.4%), and Berks (3.2%).
10 counties with the most reported traffic crashes were: Philadelphia (9.1%), Allegheny (9.1%), Montgomery (7.6%), Bucks (5.0%), Lancaster (4.4%), Lehigh (3.9%), Berks (3.9%), Delaware (3.8%), and Chester (3.6%).
10 counties with the most traffic-related deaths were: Philadelphia (6.8%), Allegheny (5.2%), Bucks (4.7%), Lancaster (4.1%), York (3.7%), Montgomery (3.5%), Chester (3.5%), Luzerne (3.3%), and Berks (3.3%).
Crashes involving deaths and major injuries are always devastating to the family and friends of the victims. If you or a loved one or even a friend is the victim of a vehicle crash, please contact Jim Ronca, truck accident, personal injury, and wrongful death lawyer. The sooner the better before all the evidence disappears.
Thankfully, the vast majority of crashes are not fatal. Most crashes cause varying types of injuries. Simply having car or SUV insurance is not enough. Let Jim Ronca determine what your options are.
In 2006, the economic loss due to traffic crashes was $895 to every man, woman, and child in Pennsylvania. Many different types of crashes occur on Pennsylvania roads, but certain types of crashes are more prevalent. More crashes involve a single vehicle hitting a fixed object (tree, guide rail,) than any other type of crash. Head-on collisions claim the third highest number of deaths.
Boys will be boys
In every age group, male drivers are involved in more crashes than female drivers. Male drivers ages 16-20 are involved in more crashes than drivers in any other age group (male or female).
Stormy weather
Adverse weather and road surface conditions negatively affect vehicle handling and driver sight. Interestingly, the vast majority of crashes occur under no adverse conditions. This can be attributed to weather and roads being clear and dry most of the time and drivers failing to use caution under optimal road conditions.
Maintenance
Improperly-maintained vehicles can lead to crashes. In 2006, tire/wheel and brake-related
failures contributed to the majority of vehicle defect related crashes.
Objectivity
Unfortunately, roadside objects like bridges, curbs, ditches, embankments, utility poles, temporary construction barriers, traffic island, parked vehicles, fire hydrants, and deer are hit often in Pennsylvania crashes.
Weekend warrior
More crashes and deaths tend to occur on Friday and Saturdays. The number of deaths on
weekends (Saturday and Sunday) are proportionally greater than the number of weekday crashes, which could be attributed to alcohol use. In 2006, more crashes occurred in daylight than all other light levels combined. This is a no brainer, since more vehicles are on the road during daylight. However, deaths in 2006 occurred slightly more often during non-daylight hours such as darkness and dusk/dawn conditions.
The majority of deaths and crashes happened around Thanksgiving, not surprisingly as people seem to do the most traveling around Thanksgiving.
Mr. Ronca is a truck accident attorney with over 20 years of legal
experience. He has twice been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.