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Underride and override

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Underride and override truck accident data describe a recorded vehicle condition within a particular set of fatal crashes. The national figures here cover vehicles of any type in crashes involving at least one large truck, across the United States, including the 50 states and the District of Columbia. In 2024, 341 vehicles were coded Underride and 343 were coded Override. These are vehicle counts, not counts of crashes or people killed. These figures come from NHTSA FARS, cover fatal crashes involving at least one large truck, and use the 2024 Annual Report File for 2024.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Contents

Official definition

The FARS Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 defines V31, Vehicle Underride/Override, as indicating whether a vehicle experienced either condition with another vehicle during the crash. The manual describes one vehicle being over the other after the event and identifies the striking vehicle as determining which condition applies. This official definition is distinct from the table's operational selection: vehicles with V31 UNDEROVERRIDE codes 1 and 2 in fatal crashes involving at least one large truck. That selection includes passenger vehicles as well as trucks; it does not restrict the counted vehicles to large trucks.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

National figures

The national illustrative figures record 399 vehicles coded Underride and 394 coded Override in 2021. For 2022, the corresponding counts are 367 and 366 vehicles. In 2023, 403 vehicles were coded Underride and 404 were coded Override. The 2024 counts of 341 and 343 vehicles retain the same selection but use the 2024 Annual Report File. Each column measures vehicles assigned its condition within NHTSA FARS fatal crashes involving a large truck. No population denominator or population rate is supplied, and these figures do not measure all underride or override crashes.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

National figures[1][2][3][4]
YearVehicles coded UnderrideVehicles coded Override
2021399394
2022367366
2023403404
2024341343

United States, 50 states and the District of Columbia. Vehicles of any type in fatal crashes involving at least one large truck, V31 UNDEROVERRIDE codes 1 and 2. 2020 is omitted because the element changed in 2021. 2024 is the FARS Annual Report File.

What the term does not tell you

The manual reports that underrides and overrides generally are not identified on crash reports, making the recorded counts dependent on the police report's contents. The term therefore does not establish how many such events occurred outside the recorded fatal-crash selection.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

UNDEROVERRIDE replaced UNDERIDE, which covered 1994 through 2020. The manual describes a changed coding approach and says the elements are not comparable across years. The table consequently begins in 2021. Since 2021, the available attributes also include No Underride or Override, Not Applicable, Not Reported and Reported as Unknown; the displayed counts select only Underride and Override.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

On related publications

References

  1. abcdef "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2021 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  2. abcdef "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2022 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  3. abcdef "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2023 national data files (Final File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  4. abcdef "Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 2024 national data files (Annual Report File)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  5. abcde "Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  6. abcde "Large trucks: 2024 data (DOT HS 813 816, June 2026)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record
  7. abcde "Overview of motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2024 (DOT HS 813 791, April 2026)". National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Official source. Checked . Source record