Widespread media attention has focused on
Amtrak's Auto Train crash, which may have been caused by faulty
railroad tracks owned and maintained by a private freight
railroad.
Though four deaths are always four too many casualties, riding a
bicycle or speeding a boat across a lake are many times more
dangerous than taking a modern, safe and comfortable passenger
train.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board,
starting the ignition of your car is more likely to kill you than
any other form of transportation.
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http://www.ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2001/table00.htm
National Transportation
Safety Board
1999-2000 U.S. Transportation Fatalities
| 1999 | 20001 | ||||||
| Highway: | Passenger cars | 20,862 | 20,455 | ||||
| Light trucks and vans | 11,265 | 11,439 | |||||
| Pedestrians | 4,939 | 4,727 | |||||
| Motorcycles | 2,483 | 2,680 | |||||
| Pedalcycles | 754 | 738 | |||||
| Medium and heavy trucks | 759 | 746 | |||||
| Buses | 59 | 31 | |||||
| Other | 596 | 984 | |||||
| Total | 41,717 | 41,800 | |||||
| Grade Crossings:2 | (402) | (425) | |||||
| Rail: | Intercity3- | ||||||
| Trespassers and nontrespassers4 | 530 | 544 | |||||
| Employees and contractors | 43 | 28 | |||||
| Passengers on trains | 14 | 4 | |||||
| Transit5- | |||||||
| Light, heavy, and commuter rail | 196 | 194 | |||||
| Total | 783 | 770 | |||||
| Marine: | Recreational boating | 734 | 701 | ||||
| Cargo transport | 47 | 36 | |||||
| Commercial fishing6 | 57 | 41 | |||||
| Commercial passengers | 36 | 23 | |||||
| Total | 874 | 801 | |||||
| Aviation: | General aviation | 630 | 592 | ||||
| Airlines | 12 | 92 | |||||
| Air taxi | 38 | 71 | |||||
| Commuter | 12 | 5 | |||||
| Foreign/unregistered7 | 1 | 17 | |||||
| Total | 693 | 777 | |||||
| Pipeline: | Gas | 22 | 37 | ||||
| Liquids | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 26 | 38 | |||||
| Total: | 44,093 | 44,186 | |||||
| 1 Numbers for 2000 are preliminary estimates. Aviation data come from the NTSB; all other data are from the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). | |||||||
| 2 Grade crossing fatalities are not counted as a separate category for determining the grand totals because they are included in the highway and rail categories, as appropriate. | |||||||
| 3 Data reported to Federal Rail Administration (FRA). | |||||||
| 4 Does not include motor vehicle occupants killed at grade crossings. | |||||||
| 5 Data reported to Federal Transit Administration (FTA). Fatalities for commuter rail operations may also be reported to the FRA and may be included in the intercity railroad fatalities. | |||||||
| 6 Refers to operational fatalities. | |||||||
| 7 Includes non-U.S. registered aircraft involved in accidents in the United States. | |||||||
