Fatalities to occupants of cargo areas of pickup trucks

We sought to describe the fatalities to occupants of pickup truck cargo are as and to compare the mortality of cargo area occupants to passengers in th e cab. From the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) files for 1987-19 96, we identified occupants of pickup trucks with at least one fatality and at least one passenger in the cargo area. Outcomes of cargo area occupants and passengers in the cab were compared using estimating equations conditi onal on the crash and vehicle. Thirty-four percent of deaths to cargo occup ants were in noncrash events without vehicle deformation. Fifty-five percen t of those who died were age 15-29 years and 79% were male. The fatality ri sk ratio (FRR) comparing cargo area occupants to front seat occupants was 3 .0 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] = 2.7-3.4). The risk was 7.9 (95% CI = 6.2 -10.1) times that of restrained front seat occupants. The FRR ranged from 9 2 (95% CI = 47-179) in noncrash events to 1.7 (95% CI = 1.5-1.9) in crashes with severe vehicle deformation. The FRR was 1.8 (95% CI = 1.4-2.3) for oc cupants of enclosed cargo areas and 3.5 (95% CI = 3.1-4.0) for occupants of open cargo areas. We conclude that passengers in cargo areas of pickup tru cks have a higher risk of death than front seat occupants, especially in no ncrash events, and that camper shells offer only limited protection for car go area occupants. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.