Roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles
Detailed nonfatal data starting in 2023-2024
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has transitioned from an annual to a biennial (every two years) publication schedule. The final publication of a single year of cases involving days away from work estimates was for reference year 2020. The most recent BLS detailed data cover 2023 and 2024 for Days Away from Work (DAFW), Days of Job Transfer or Restriction (DJTR), and Days Away from Work, Job Restriction, or Transfer (DART) cases.
New event categories starting in 2023
BLS updated the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System starting with the 2023 data year. The update includes changes to how injury and illness events are classified. This change is considered a data break, therefore, comparing counts to previous years is often unavailable and, when available, should be done with caution. Currently, 2024 fatality data are using the new classification categories, while the most recent nonfatal 2023-2024 data use the previous classification categories.
Injuries resulting from roadway incidents involving motorized land vehicles is the leading cause of work-related deaths. In 2024, 1,146 workers died and in 2023-2024, 76,560 DART cases (including 59,560 DAFW cases) were reported. The roadway category includes:
- Incidents involving motorized land vehicles that injure vehicle occupants.
- Roadway incidents may occur on any part of publicly maintained traffic ways intended for motorized land vehicle travel, including travel lanes, shoulders, medians, and adjoining publicly maintained areas designated for vehicles (e.g., runaway truck ramp, weigh station, toll areas). It excludes private and commercial roadways, sidewalks, and parking lots. Incidents occurring partially on a public roadway are considered to be roadway incidents.
- Vehicle occupants include drivers/operators, passengers and persons exiting or entering vehicles, or persons partially inside vehicles.
- The vehicles involved can be in forward or backward motion and operating under power or not.
This infographic provides an overview of the nonfatal trends. The data on nonfatal cases cover occupational injuries and illnesses and come from the BLS Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII) for 2011-2024. From 2011 through 2020, annual estimates are available for the number of DAFW cases (with or without days of restricted work activity). Starting in 2021, biennial estimates are available for DAFW, DJTR, and DART cases. Fatality estimates continue to be available annually. However, BLS updated the Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System starting with the 2023 data year. The update includes changes to how injury and illness events are classified. This change is considered a data break, therefore comparing counts to previous years should be done with caution. Explore the data details tab for additional information on demographics, industry, occupation, days lost, and historic trends.