How Vehicle Age and Model Year Relate to Driver Injury Severity in Fatal Crashes

This analysis examines how the age of the vehicle at the time of the crash and the vehicle’s model year are correlated with the injury outcome of the driver of a passenger vehicle involved in a fatal crash. A multivariate logistic regression model was constructed to model the relationship between injury outcome (fatally injured versus survived) of the driver and the independent variables vehicle age (0–3 years, 4–7, 8–11, 12–14, 15–17, and 18+) and vehicle model year (MY 2008–2012, MY 2003–2007, MY 1998–2002, MY 1993–1997, and MY 1985–1992) while accounting for many other crash factors. Based on criteria described in the Data and Methodology section, 117,957 fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers and 133,869 surviving passenger vehicle drivers are examined using data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 2005 to 2011.