LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY

What job hazards do law enforcement officers face?

There are more than 750,000 state and local (excluding federal) law enforcement officers.³ These officers face many job hazards, including: physical exertion, psychological and organizational stressors, and health issues. Some behavior-related hazards that put officers at risk of a crash on the job are:

• Not wearing a seat belt
• Speeding, particularly through intersections
• Being distracted while using a mobile data terminal or other in-care electronics
• Experiencing tunnel vision from increased stress

What do we know about law enforcement officer crashes?

In the last 10 years, on average, an officer per week has been killed on our nation’s roads (2011-2020 = 50 deaths per year).¹ Most years, motor vehicle-related incidents — including crashes and being struck by moving vehicles while on foot — are the main cause of death for officers. 2016 was an anomaly in that motor vehicle-related deaths came second to firearms. Since 2016, homicides have been leading cause of death.

From 2011-2020, excluding COVID-19 deaths:¹

• 1,387 officer line-of-duty deaths
• 286 officer line-of-duty deaths due to vehicle crashes (21% of total)
• 114 officer line-of-duty deaths due to being struck by a vehicle (8% of total)

Surveillance of nonfatal injuries among law enforcement officers

The purpose of this project is to collect detailed data on nonfatal occupational injury and exposure data on law enforcement officers who were injured or exposed on-duty and treated in hospital emergency departments (EDs). The project is funded through an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Justice.

Project contact: Hope M. Tiesman, Ph.D.
Division of Safety Research
(304) 285-6067; HTiesman@cdc.gov
Project period: 2018-2021

Law Enforcement Officer Motor Vehicle Crash and Struck-by Fatality Investigations

This project uses the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) model to investigate motor vehicle-related occupational fatalities of law enforcement officers in the United States. These investigations identify risk factors for fatal motor vehicle-related events that are used to construct prevention recommendations. These recommendations are shared with law enforcement agencies across the U.S. with the goal of reducing law enforcement officer motor vehicle-related deaths.

Project contact: Nancy Romano
Division of Safety Research
(304) 285-5889; NRomano@cdc.gov

Law Enforcement Officer Motor Vehicle Crash and Struck-by Fatality Investigations: A Pilot Program

This project is using the NIOSH Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) model to investigate motor vehicle-related occupational fatalities of law enforcement officers in the United States. These investigations are identifying risk factors for fatal motor vehicle-related events that will be used to construct prevention recommendations. These recommendations will be shared with law enforcement agencies across the U.S. with the goal of reducing law enforcement officer motor vehicle-related deaths. The project is funded through an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Justice.

Project contact: Paul Moore
Division of Safety Research
Project period: 2014-2017

Evaluation of an Occupational Motor-Vehicle Crash Prevention Program in Law Enforcement

The focus of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of a comprehensive motor-vehicle crash prevention program in a large metropolitan police department to reduce the incidence of motor-vehicle crashes and resulting injuries. The second objective is to develop a plan to encourage other law enforcement agencies to replicate the elements of the program that are discovered to be effective. The project is funded through an interagency agreement with the National Institute of Justice.

Project contact: Hope M. Tiesman, Ph.D.
Division of Safety Research
(304) 285-6067 HTiesman@cdc.gov
Project period: 2014-2017

Cops & Cars: Reducing LEO Deaths in Motor Vehicle Crashes

This research study identified the perceptions, policies, and practices of law enforcement officers that could affect their use of seatbelts while in patrol vehicles through a comprehensive survey. The final report discusses the prevalence of motor-vehicle crashes, frequency of seatbelt use, barriers to seatbelt use, and recommendations for agencies to reduce motor-vehicle crashes. This information will raise awareness of the importance that motor vehicles play in the mortality of law enforcement officers and further explore methods to increase prevention practices.

Project contact: Hope M. Tiesman, Ph.D.
Division of Safety Research
(304) 285-6067 HTiesman@cdc.gov
Project period: 2009-2012

Prevent Struck-by Incidents at Crash Scenes
More than 200 law enforcement officers died due to struck-by incidents from 2005-2019 (24% of motor vehicle-related officer deaths). This infographic explains how officers can prevent struck-by incidents at crash scenes.

Officer Road Code Toolkit
NIOSH Publication No. 2019-100
This toolkit is designed to promote safe driving practices within an agency so that patrol officers operate by a unified code behind the wheel: Drive to Arrive Alive.

Keep Officers Safe on the Road
Motor vehicle-related incidents are the leading cause of on-the-job deaths for law enforcement officers in the U.S. This infographic provides key stats and recommends ways that officers can prevent crashes and injuries.

Law Enforcement Officer Motor Vehicle Crash and Struck-by Fatality Investigations: A Pilot Program
NIOSH Publication No. 2017-121
This flyer provides information about the program’s investigations and reports.

Fact Sheet: Preventing Work-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes
NIOSH Publication No. 2015-111
This fact sheet recommends ways employers can keep workers safe when driving or riding in a motor vehicle on the job. It outlines components of a successful motor vehicle safety program and ends with a checklist that employers can use to implement the recommendations.

Take Charge of Your Safety In and Around Your Patrol Vehicle
NIOSH Publication No.2015-109 (February 2015)
This flyer gives law enforcement officers five recommendations to reduce their risk of a motor-vehicle crash while on-duty.

Law Enforcement Officer Motor Vehicle Safety
NIOSH Publication No. 2015-101 (November 2014)
This document provides state-level stakeholders with an overview of the findings from a NIOSH project that gathered information on the number and severity of motor-vehicle events in the state of Iowa (crashes and struck-by injuries). It also provides data on specific occupational safety and health training, policies and procedures, and officers’ perceptions of this training and policies, seat-belt usage, and officers’ perceptions of risky work-related driving situations. Approaches for increasing and improving motor-vehicle training, information for policy implementation, and other approaches to increase law enforcement officer driving safety while on the job are also included.

Law enforcement officers’ risk perceptions toward on-duty motor-vehicle events
Policing: July-September 2015 / 38(3):

Fatal occupational injuries among U.S. law enforcement officers: a comparison of national surveillance systems
American Journal of Industrial Medicine: June 2013 / 56(6):693-700

Eleven years of occupational mortality in law enforcement: the census of fatal occupational injuries, 1992-2002
American Journal of Industrial Medicine: September 2010 / 53(9):940-949

Injury Prevention & Control: Motor Vehicle Safety

International Association of Chiefs of Police – Center for Officer Safety and Wellness

LEO Near Miss

Move Over America

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund

National Police Foundation Encourages Participation in New Research Study Examining Nonfatal Injuries Among Law Enforcement Officers (October 2019)

NEW Infographic—Keep Officers Safe on the Road (April 2018)

Communication studies students promote law enforcement motor vehicle safety (June 2017)

National Police Week and NIOSH’s Work in Officer Safety NIOSH Science Blog (May 2017)

How NIOSH is preventing crashes among law enforcement officers (December 2016)

Focus on NIOSH CMVS Researchers: Meet Hope Tiesman, PhD (December 2016)

Motor Vehicle Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (November 2014)

Cops and Cars (February 2011)