Daily AncestorAutomobile accident
Automobile accident on a death certificate meant someone killed by or in a motor car, struck, run over or thrown out.
The 1911 Census Bureau manual lists automobile accident, run over by automobile, struck by automobile and thrown from automobile under traumatism by other crushing, with railway collisions and street cars.
Its instructions ask that the means of injury be stated and the death qualified as accidental, suicidal or homicidal. Cars cannot appear on the 1850 to 1880 mortality schedules.
As seen in a recordCause of death line, state death certificate, 1910s to 1930s
Cause: Automobile accident. Fracture of skull. Accidental.
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Daily Ancestor. "Automobile accident." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/automobile-accident. Last checked 2026-10-12.