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e e e PSOO-7 Barbara Hammer Kent State University Dept. of Geography Box 5190 Kent OH 44242 330-672-5829 barbhanuner@hotmail.com VElllCLE-OCCUPANT DEATHS CAUSED BY TORNADOES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1900-1998 Occupants of vehicles encounter an uncertain degree ofrisk during tomadic stonns, Because we are an increasingly vehicle-dependent society, and because the current National Weather Service guidelines, which have been constructed without benefit of supporting research, suggest we abandon vehicles to lie in a ditch if no sturdy shelter is available, it is important to explore the historical record of vehicle-occupant deaths that have occurred in this country during the twentieth century. The objective of this research was to investigate the number, distribution, and broad spatial and temporal trends associated with vehicle-occupant deaths that have occurred as a result of tornadoes, and to define the proportion of tornado-induced deaths that have occurred in vehicles. There were 15,047 deaths caused by tornadoes from 1900 through 1998. Of those, 5,685 were identified to have occurred at a defined site, and 270 were known to have occurred in vehicles. The number of vehicle-occupant deaths, as a proportion of all site-known, tornado- induced deaths, was constant from 1959-1979, but that proportion decreased significantly from 1980-1998. The number of deaths was related to several influencing factors. Linear regressions and correlations were employed to detennine the degree of relationship between the number of deaths and those factors. While population, number of vehicle registrations, and number of tornadoes all seemed to influence the number of deaths to some degree, the most significant factor to influence the number of deaths appeared to be vehicle safety features. Most vehicle-occupant deaths were found to have occurred during rare F4 tornadoes, when vehicles where thrown from roadways, and most occurred in the Great Plains region.