In this annual report, Traffic Safety Facts: A Compilation of Motor Vehicle Crash Data
from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the General Estimates System, the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) presents descriptive statistics
about traffic crashes of all severities, from those that result in property damage to those
that result in the loss of human life. Information from two of NHTSA's primary data systems
has been combined to create a single source for motor vehicle crash statistics. The first
data system, the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), is probably the better known of
the two sources. Established in 1975, FARS contains data on the most severe traffic crashes,
those in which someone was killed. The second source is the National Automotive Sampling System
General Estimates System (NASS GES), which began operation in 1988. GES contains data from a nationally
representative sample of police-reported crashes of all severities, including those that result in
death, injury, or property damage. Note that 2015 and earlier year FARS data are final and generally not
subject to change. Although the 2016 data file is a full year's worth of data, it is subject to change
when it is finalized. The current version of the 2016 FARS data file is referred to as the
Annual Report File (ARF). The additional time between the Annual Report file and the Final file provides
the opportunity for submission of important variable data requiring outside sources, which may lead to
changes in the final counts. The updated final counts for 2016 will be reflected with the release of
the 2017 Annual Report File.
NOTE: NASS GES was discontinued in 2016 and replaced with a new system called the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS).
The 2016 data year is the first data collection year of CRSS. However, the 2016 estimates are not currently available.
Thus, injury and property-damage-only crash estimates for 2016 will not be presented.
United States Department of Transportation