The annual incidence rate of facial injuries from vehicle crashes, 278/100,000 residents, was determined from a population-based study involving all Dane County, Wisconsin, USA, hospitals with emergency departments. Applying this figure to the USA population yields an estimated 625,000 hospital-treated facial injuries from vehicles occurring in the USA each year. Vehicle crashes were the source of a substantial proportion of facial injuries from all causes, and were the single leading cause of the most severe facial lacerations and facial fractures. The majority of injuries were sustained by drivers and other vehicle occupants, and others by bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians struck by vehicles. Vehicle occupants'' faces were most commonly injured by steering wheels and windshields. Technologies which are thought to protect occupants include airbags and nonlacerating windshields, but neither is available in vehicles currently manufactured for sale in the USA.