Update: Motor vehicle-related deaths, active and reserve components, U.S. Armed Forces, 1999-2012.

From 1999 to 2012, there were 4,479 motor vehicle accident (MVA)-related deaths among members of the U.S. Armed Forces. Of these, the single most common underlying cause of death was motorcycle accidents (n=1,134; 25.6%). Among active component service members during the 14-year surveillance period, the annual number (n=355) and rate (25.1 per 100,000 person-years[p-yrs]) of MVA-related deaths peaked in 2004. Since then, a steady downward trend followed and the 2012 number (n=184) and rate (13.2 per 100,000 p-yrs) were the lowest of the entire period. For members of the reserve component, the annual number of deaths peaked in 2005 (n=86), but the number in 2012 (n=22) was the lowest of the period. In 2012, the number (n=90) and rate of deaths (6.5 per 100,000 p-yrs) related to motorcycle accidents among active component service members almost equaled the number (n=94) and rate of deaths (6.7 per 100,000 p-yrs) from all other types of motor vehicle accidents combined. During the entire period, numbers of fatal motor vehicle accidents tended to be higher in the warmer months of the year. After 2009, motor vehicle accidents were no longer the leading, non-war- related cause of death among U.S. service members.