To assess the problems of regional mortality rates from motor vehicle injury (MVI) calculated according to place of residence, we retrospectively interviewed families of people who died from MVI during the years 1994 and 1995 in Hualien County and Taitung County. Seventeen percent(94/559) of MVI deaths occurred outside the resident county in Hualien County and 35% (113/323) in Taitung County. The characteristics of victims whose accidents occurred outside the county differed significantly in age distribu tion and pattern of road use. Among those in which the exact place of occurrence and place of death (recorded on death certificates) were known, in 99% (548/551) in Hualien County and 96% (301/315) in Taitung County, the place of occurrence and the place of death were in the same county. Because a high proportion of deaths occurred outside the resident county, the use of county-level regional mortality from MVIs calculated according to the place of residence should be evaluated very cautiously. At least in the Huatung area, the place of death recorded on the death certificate can be used as a proxy of the place of occurrence of the MVI. A control program targeting injuries which occur outside the resident county should be different from a program dealing with injuries which occur within the resident county.