Indiana Crash Facts 2000

NHTSA · 2000 · ROSA P / Indiana. Governor's Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving

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Summary

This document, *Indiana Crash Facts 2000*, presents a comprehensive statistical analysis of motor vehicle traffic crashes in Indiana for the year 2000. Published by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute and the Governor’s Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving, the report aims to identify trends, contributing factors, and outcomes to support statewide traffic safety initiatives. The study addresses the ongoing public health burden of traffic fatalities and injuries, motivated by the need to evaluate the effectiveness of enforcement, education, and legislative measures, such as the primary seat belt law enacted in 1998. The data were derived primarily from the Indiana State Police Crash Records database, which aggregates reports filed by state and local law enforcement agencies. For specific alcohol-related fatal crash data, the report incorporated information from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). The analysis covers approximately 220,883 crashes, utilizing historical data from 1991 to 2000 to establish trends and project future outcomes through 2008 using exponential decay models. The report categorizes data by crash severity, location (rural vs. urban), time of day, vehicle type, driver demographics, and contributing circumstances such as alcohol impairment and driver inattention. Key findings indicate that 2000 marked a significant improvement in traffic safety metrics. There were 888 fatalities, a 13 percent decrease from 1999 and the lowest number since 1945. The fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled dropped to 1.2, also a decade low. Serious injuries fell to 5,951, the lowest recorded since 1988. Alcohol involvement in fatal crashes decreased by 42 percent, with alcohol-related crashes accounting for 21.0 percent of all fatal incidents. However, challenges persisted: 76.1 percent of fatal crashes occurred in rural areas, and driver inattention remained the leading contributing circumstance. Among motorcyclists killed, 79.7 percent were not wearing helmets. While overall seat belt usage increased to 72.2 percent by 2002, usage in pickup trucks remained low at 47.4 percent, correlating with higher ejection risks. The significance of these findings lies in their role as a benchmark for Indiana’s Highway Safety Plan. The report demonstrates that targeted interventions, particularly regarding seat belt enforcement and impaired driving prevention, contributed to record-low fatality and injury rates. However, the data highlight persistent disparities in rural safety and restraint usage among specific vehicle types and demographics. The report concludes that continued vigorous enforcement, public education, and legislative advocacy are necessary to sustain these gains and meet long-term safety goals, emphasizing the correlation between behavioral changes, such as increased restraint use, and reduced crash severity.

Key finding

Indiana recorded 888 traffic fatalities in 2000, a 13 percent decrease from 1999, with alcohol-related fatalities dropping by 42 percent.

Methodology

dataset

Sample size: 220883

Provenance

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Topics

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• incidence prevalence
• demographic disparities
• fatality injury trends
• comparative international

Information type

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• Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes