Social Explorer's Safe Streets for All fatality data collection draws from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), the federal census of fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes occurring on U.S. public roads. Administered by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) within the U.S. Department of Transportation, FARS has tracked fatal crashes since 1975, providing decades of nationally consistent traffic safety data.
Because FARS is a census rather than a sample, it includes every crash that meets the federal reporting criteria. That makes it an essential resource for transportation planners, researchers, public health professionals, journalists, and community organizations working to understand where roadway deaths occur, who is affected, and how traffic safety conditions change over time.
Explore Nearly Five Decades of Fatal Crash Data
The dataset covers crashes, vehicles, and people involved in fatal motor vehicle incidents. Users can examine factors such as crash circumstances, roadway and environmental conditions, vehicle types, and characteristics of drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and other people involved.
On Social Explorer, FARS data is available from 1975 through 2023 across 49 survey vintages, making it possible to study both recent conditions and long-term changes in roadway fatalities. Instead of working through disconnected files and specialized data tools, users can explore fatality patterns by geography and year within Social Explorer's familiar mapping and analysis environment.
This long historical record is especially useful for identifying persistent safety challenges, comparing places, examining changes before and after transportation interventions, and putting recent fatality trends into a broader context.
Support Vision Zero and Safe Streets for All Planning
Reliable fatality data is central to Vision Zero and Safe Streets for All (SS4A) initiatives, which focus on preventing roadway deaths and serious injuries.
The Social Explorer collection gives communities an accessible way to examine where fatal crashes are concentrated and to investigate patterns involving different roadway users and crash conditions. Planners can use these insights to help identify priority locations, strengthen safety action plans, support community engagement, and provide evidence for investments in safer streets.
Researchers and advocates can also use the data to compare jurisdictions, examine disparities in traffic safety outcomes, and track whether fatality patterns are improving over time.
Use FARS Data for the SS4A Average Annual Fatality Rate
FARS is also the federal data source specified by the U.S. Department of Transportation for calculating the SS4A Average Annual Fatality Rate.
For FY2026 SS4A guidance, USDOT instructs applicants to use FARS data from 2019 through 2023 and determine the total number of persons killed in fatal crashes within the applicant jurisdiction. That five-year fatality count is used to calculate the annual average.
The fatality data is only one part of the calculation. Applicants must also use the population measure specified by USDOT—in FY2026 guidance, the 2020 U.S. Census population—and calculate the resulting rate per 100,000 people. Requirements can change between funding rounds, so applicants should always confirm the applicable SS4A Notice of Funding Opportunity and current USDOT instructions before submitting an application.
Social Explorer's FARS collection includes the 2019–2023 period required by the FY2026 guidance, giving users access to the federal fatality data needed for the fatality-count portion of that calculation. Social Explorer also provides extensive U.S. Census data, helping users bring traffic safety and population context together in one place.
Turn Traffic Fatality Data Into Actionable Insight
Whether you are preparing a roadway safety plan, researching pedestrian and cyclist fatalities, evaluating progress toward Vision Zero goals, or assembling data for an SS4A application, Social Explorer makes FARS data easier to explore and put into context.
Map patterns, compare communities, investigate change over time, and connect traffic safety outcomes with demographic and population data—without needing specialized statistical or GIS software.
Explore Safe Streets for All Fatality Data with Social Explorer
Ready to take a closer look at roadway safety in your community? Sign up for a free trial and start using Social Explorer to map and analyze Safe Streets for All – Vision Zero Fatality Data alongside Census, demographic, health, transportation, and other community data.