Data Notes:
    1. The ICD.9.CM codes (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification) used in this analysis were E-codes (external cause codes). They are as follows:

Accident Type:

Multi-vehicle accident E811.x, E812.x, E813.x
Single vehicle accident E815.x, E816.x
Collision with pedestrian E814.x
Other or unknown E810.x, E929.0

Victim Type:

Driver of motor vehicle E81x.0
Passenger in motor vehicle E81x.1
Motorcyclist E81x.2
Passenger on motorcycle E81x.3
Bicyclist E81x.6
Pedestrian E81x.7
Other or unknown E81x.4, E81x.5, E81x.8, E81x.9, E929.0

Note: In identifying the victim type, the x includes digits of 0 through 6.

 
    1. The figures reflect acute care inpatient hospitalizations only. The following are not included: Those with injuries not severe enough to warrant hospitalization. Those treated in the emergency department and then released. Those succumbing to their injuries before being admitted to the hospital (e.g., those who die en route to the hospital or in the emergency room before being admitted as an inpatient).
    2. These counts reflect hospitalizations, not persons or accidents. For example, if a person was treated for injuries sustained in a traffic accident, was released from the hospital, and was then readmitted at a later time for "residual effects" of the injury, then that person was counted twice (i.e., two hospitalizations). These instances are captured under the "Other or Unknown" categories. Similarly, if a person was involved in two separate accidents in 1996 and was hospitalized each time, they were counted twice.
    3. Analysis was based on accident victims who were hospitalized. There is no way to know whether the hospitalized victim was the one who caused the accident.
    4. The report does not include noncollision motor vehicle traffic accidents such as falling or being pushed from a moving vehicle. Furthermore, it does not include an accident that occurred when the vehicle was used in off-road recreational or sporting activities or a motor vehicle accident of an unspecified nature.
    5. The data were reported as submitted to us by the hospital. If a hospital failed to provide complete information, the number of hospitalizations would be undercounted.
    6. Median charges are reported. It is important to note that these charges are associated with the entire hospitalization (not just treatment associated with the automobile accident), and they are hospital charges only (they do not include physician fees, outpatient fees, etc.). Further, while charges are a standard way of reporting data, they do not reflect the actual cost of the treatment nor do they reflect the payment that the hospital may have actually received.
    7. Region figures reflect the region in which the patient was hospitalized. If a patient were injured in one region and transported to a hospital in another region, the record would be counted in the latter region.

      8. Region 1 includes the following counties: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Washington, and Westmoreland. Region 2 includes the following counties: Butler, Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Venango, and Warren. Region 3 includes the following counties: Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Indiana, and Somerset. Region 4 includes the following counties: Centre, Clinton, Columbia, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Tioga, and Union. Region 5 includes the following counties: Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry, and York. Region 6 includes the following counties: Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne, and Wyoming. Region 7 includes the following counties: Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill. Region 8 includes the following counties: Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery. Region 9 includes Philadelphia County.
    8. Population data is based on US Bureau of the Census data, 1996 estimates.

      9. Statewide = 12,056,112. Region 1 = 2,327,605. Region 2 = 1,138,412. Region 3 = 509,862. Region 4 = 633,098. Region 5 = 1,727,082. Region 6 = 876,931. Region 7 = 1,119,287. Region 8 = 2,245,833. Region 9 = 1,478,002.
    9. Total Highway Miles is based on PA Department of Transportation data. 1997 estimates (Source: http://www.psu.edu/.

      10. Statewide = 118,952. Region 1 = 19,127. Region 2 = 22,152. Region 3 = 9,024. Region 4 = 12,403. Region 5 = 19,295. Region 6 = 13,323. Region 7 = 9,581. Region 8 = 11,635. Region 9 = 2,412.
    10. Analysis in this report is based on patients discharged in calendar year 1996. The exception is the analysis of admission month (page 4), which was based on patients admitted during calendar year 1996 and discharged before April 1, 1997. This approach allowed us to better capture the month that the accident occurred rather than the month that victims were discharged from the hospital.