Commentary: characteristics of LEOs' fatalities in motor vehicle crashes: a lack of safety culture in LEOs is a loss for us all.

While working in the emergency department (ED) and caring for acutely injured motor vehicle crash victims, most of us might not stop to recognize that the crash-related injury and fatality rates across the nation are at an all-time historic low. Further, we could more confidently say that most emergency physicians would be surprised to discover that the progress in the reduction of US motor vehicle crash injuries and fatalities has been deemed one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 10 great public health achievements in the 21st century. Although motor vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of fatal injury in the United States and are responsible for more than $99 billion in medical and lost work costs annually, the fatality rate per 100,000 drivers has decreased 25% during the past 10 years. Despite a culture of distractedness with increased connectivity in the car, ie, Smartphones, global positioning systems, and soon in-dash Internet access to weather and Web searches, it also appears that people, at least at a traffic-safety level, are adopting a culture of safety that is affecting the public’s health, with notable gains. For example, increased child safety seat use has saved the lives of more than 9,000 children in the last 3 decades, and the implementation of graduated driver licensure programs nationwide has resulted in a 40% decrease in both fatal and nonfatal crashes in 16-year-olds from 1996 to 2005. Moreover, “Don’t Drink and Drive” media and enforcement campaigns have contributed to a 27% decrease in the alcohol-impaired crash fatality rate during the past decade. Finally, the maintenance of the national seat belt use at more than 80% since 2004 has saved an estimated 88,134 lives between 2004 and 2009. With these recent laudable changes in traffic safety, it would appear that we are making considerable progress with the culture of safety in our communities and society at large. However, the report being highlighted in this month’s installment of NHTSA Notes gives some pause to wholly accepting this notion. Although the culture of safety may be permeating the masses, this is not the case for a rather unexpected and less-talked-about group of drivers and occupants, LEOs. In the recently released NHTSA report titled “Characteristics of Law Enforcement Officers’ Fatalities in Motor Vehicle Crashes,” data were drawn from 2 main sources: the FBI’s LEOKA data set and NHTSA’s FARS. Although the data sets used to develop the report do not align perfectly because of slight definitional differences and time to fatality inclusion criteria, they both clearly uncover unfavorable and worrisome trends in fatal crashes for this paradoxically vulnerable group. LEOKA data show that up until the midr