Fatalities that result from motor vehicle crashes are the second largest cause of accidental deaths in the United States. [3]
Motor vehicle fatalities in the United States are reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The NHTSA only reports deaths that occur on public roads, and does not include parking lots, driveways, and private roads. [4] It also excludes indirect car-related fatalities. For more details, see Transportation safety in the United States.
From the beginning of recorded statistics until the 1970s, total traffic deaths in the United States generally trended upwards, except during the Great Depression and World War II. From 1979 to 2005, the number of deaths per year decreased 14.97% while the number of deaths per capita decreased by 35.46%. The 32,479 traffic fatalities in 2011 were the lowest in 62 years, since 1949. [5] However, fatal car accidents in the U.S. declined at a much slower rate than in other developed countries, and the downwards trend began to reverse in the mid-2010s. [6] For 2016, the NHTSA reported 37,461 people killed in 34,436 fatal motor vehicle crashes, an average of 102 per day. [7] In 2022, there were 42,795 total motor vehicle fatalities. [8]
Year | Deaths | VMT– Vehicle miles traveled (billions) | Fatalities per 100 million VMT | Population | Fatalities per 100,000 population | Change in per capita fatalities from previous year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1899 | 26 [9] | |||||
1900 | 36 | 76,094,000 | 0.05 | NA | ||
1901 | 54 | 77,584,000 | 0.07 | 47.1% | ||
1902 | 79 | 79,163,000 | 0.10 | 43.4% | ||
1903 | 117 | 80,632,000 | 0.15 | 45.4% | ||
1904 | 172 | 82,166,000 | 0.21 | 44.3% | ||
1905 | 252 | 83,822,000 | 0.30 | 43.6% | ||
1906 | 338 | 85,450,000 | 0.40 | 31.6% | ||
1907 | 581 | 87,008,000 | 0.67 | 68.8% | ||
1908 | 751 | 88,710,000 | 0.85 | 26.8% | ||
1909 | 1,174 | 90,490,000 | 1.30 | 53.3% | ||
1910 | 1,599 | 92,407,000 | 1.73 | 33.4% | ||
1911 | 2,043 | 93,863,000 | 2.18 | 25.8% | ||
1912 | 2,968 | 95,335,000 | 3.11 | 43.0% | ||
1913 | 4,079 | 97,225,000 | 4.20 | 34.8% | ||
1914 | 4,468 | 99,111,000 | 4.51 | 7.5% | ||
1915 | 6,779 | 100,546,000 | 6.74 | 49.6% | ||
1916 | 7,766 | 101,961,000 | 7.62 | 13.0% | ||
1917 | 9,630 | 103,268,000 | 9.33 | 22.4% | ||
1918 | 10,390 | 103,208,000 | 10.07 | 8.0% | ||
1919 | 10,896 | 104,514,000 | 10.42 | 3.6% | ||
1920 | 12,155 | 106,461,000 | 11.42 | 9.5% | ||
1921 | 13,253 | 55 | 24.09 | 108,538,000 | 12.21 | 7.0% |
1922 | 14,859 | 67 | 21.95 | 110,049,000 | 13.50 | 10.6% |
1923 | 17,870 | 85 | 21.03 | 111,947,000 | 15.96 | 18.2% |
1924 | 18,400 | 104 | 17.55 | 114,109,000 | 16.13 | 1.0% |
1925 | 20,771 | 122 | 16.98 | 115,829,000 | 17.93 | 11.2% |
1926 | 22,194 | 140 | 15.77 | 117,397,000 | 18.91 | 5.4% |
1927 | 24,470 | 158 | 15.44 | 119,035,000 | 20.56 | 8.7% |
1928 | 26,557 | 172 | 15.36 | 120,509,000 | 22.04 | 7.2% |
1929 | 29,592 | 197 | 14.97 | 121,767,000 | 24.30 | 10.3% |
1930 | 31,204 | 206 | 15.12 | 123,076,741 | 25.35 | 4.3% |
1931 | 31,963 | 216 | 14.79 | 124,039,648 | 25.77 | 1.6% |
1932 | 27,979 | 200 | 13.95 | 124,840,471 | 22.41 | -13.0% |
1933 | 29,746 | 200 | 14.83 | 125,578,763 | 23.69 | 5.7% |
1934 | 34,240 | 215 | 15.88 | 126,373,773 | 27.09 | 14.4% |
1935 | 34,494 | 228 | 15.09 | 127,250,232 | 27.11 | 0.1% |
1936 | 36,126 | 252 | 14.33 | 128,053,180 | 28.21 | 4.1% |
1937 | 37,819 | 270 | 14.00 | 128,824,829 | 29.36 | 4.1% |
1938 | 31,083 | 271 | 11.46 | 129,824,939 | 23.94 | -18.4% |
1939 | 30,895 | 285 | 10.83 | 130,879,718 | 23.61 | -1.4% |
1940 | 32,914 | 302 | 10.89 | 132,122,446 | 24.91 | 5.5% |
1941 | 38,142 | 333 | 11.43 | 133,402,471 | 28.59 | 14.8% |
1942 | 27,007 | 268 | 10.07 | 134,859,553 | 20.03 | -30.0% |
1943 | 22,727 | 208 | 10.92 | 136,739,353 | 16.62 | -17.0% |
1944 | 23,165 | 212 | 10.89 | 138,397,345 | 16.74 | 0.7% |
1945 | 26,785 | 250 | 10.71 | 139,928,165 | 19.14 | 14.4% |
1946 | 31,874 | 340 | 9.35 | 141,388,566 | 22.54 | 17.8% |
1947 | 31,193 | 370 | 8.41 | 144,126,071 | 21.64 | -4.0% |
1948 | 30,775 | 397 | 7.73 | 146,631,302 | 21.00 | -3.0% |
1949 | 30,246 | 424 | 7.13 | 149,188,130 | 20.27 | -3.4% |
1950 | 33,186 | 458 | 7.24 | 152,271,417 | 21.79 | 7.5% |
1951 | 35,309 | 491 | 7.19 | 154,877,889 | 22.80 | 4.6% |
1952 | 36,088 | 513 | 7.03 | 157,552,740 | 22.91 | 0.5% |
1953 | 36,190 | 544 | 6.65 | 160,184,192 | 22.59 | -1.4% |
1954 | 33,890 | 561 | 6.03 | 163,025,854 | 20.79 | -8.0% |
1955 | 36,688 | 605 | 6.06 | 165,931,202 | 22.11 | 6.4% |
1956 | 37,965 | 627 | 6.05 | 168,903,031 | 22.48 | 1.7% |
1957 | 36,932 | 647 | 5.71 | 171,984,130 | 21.47 | -4.5% |
1958 | 35,331 | 664 | 5.32 | 174,881,904 | 20.20 | -5.9% |
1959 | 36,223 | 700 | 5.17 | 177,829,628 | 20.37 | 0.8% |
1960 | 36,399 | 718 | 5.06 | 180,671,158 | 20.15 | -1.1% |
1961 | 36,285 | 737 | 4.92 | 183,691,481 | 19.75 | -2.0% |
1962 | 38,980 | 766 | 5.08 | 186,537,737 | 20.90 | 5.8% |
1963 | 41,723 | 805 | 5.18 | 189,241,798 | 22.05 | 5.5% |
1964 | 45,645 | 846 | 5.39 | 191,888,791 | 23.79 | 7.9% |
1965 | 47,089 | 887 | 5.30 | 194,302,963 | 24.24 | 1.9% |
1966 | 50,894 | 925 | 5.50 | 196,560,338 | 25.89 | 6.8% |
1967 | 50,724 | 964 | 5.26 | 198,712,056 | 25.53 | -1.4% |
1968 | 52,725 | 1,015 | 5.19 | 200,706,052 | 26.27 | 2.9% |
1969 | 53,543 | 1,061 | 5.04 | 202,676,946 | 26.42 | 0.6% |
1970 | 52,627 | 1,109 | 4.74 | 205,052,174 | 25.67 | -2.9% |
1971 | 52,542 | 1,178 | 4.46 | 207,660,677 | 25.30 | -1.4% |
1972 | 54,589 | 1,259 | 4.33 | 209,896,021 | 26.01 | 2.8% |
1973 | 54,052 | 1,313 | 4.12 | 211,908,788 | 25.51 | -1.9% |
1974 | 45,196 | 1,280 | 3.53 | 213,853,928 | 21.13 | -17.1% |
1975 | 44,525 | 1,327 | 3.35 | 215,973,199 | 20.62 | -2.5% |
1976 | 45,523 | 1,402 | 3.25 | 218,035,164 | 20.88 | 1.3% |
1977 | 47,878 | 1,467 | 3.26 | 220,239,425 | 21.74 | 4.1% |
1978 | 50,331 | 1,544 | 3.26 | 222,584,545 | 22.61 | 4.0% |
1979 | 51,093 | 1,529 | 3.34 | 225,055,487 | 22.70 | 0.4% |
1980 | 51,091 | 1,527 | 3.35 | 227,224,681 | 22.48 | -1.0% |
1981 | 49,301 | 1,552 | 3.18 | 229,465,714 | 21.49 | -4.5% |
1982 | 43,945 | 1,595 | 2.76 | 231,664,458 | 18.97 | -11.7% |
1983 | 42,589 | 1,652 | 2.58 | 233,791,994 | 18.22 | -4.0% |
1984 | 44,257 | 1,720 | 2.57 | 235,824,902 | 18.77 | 3.0% |
1985 | 43,825 | 1,774 | 2.47 | 237,923,795 | 18.42 | -1.9% |
1986 | 46,087 | 1,834 | 2.51 | 240,132,887 | 19.19 | 4.2% |
1987 | 46,390 | 1,921 | 2.42 | 242,288,918 | 19.15 | -0.2% |
1988 | 47,087 | 2,025 | 2.32 | 244,498,982 | 19.26 | 0.6% |
1989 | 45,582 | 2,096 | 2.17 | 246,819,230 | 18.47 | -4.1% |
1990 | 44,599 | 2,144 | 2.08 | 249,464,396 | 17.88 | -3.2% |
1991 | 41,508 | 2,172 | 1.91 | 252,153,092 | 16.46 | -7.9% |
1992 | 39,250 | 2,247 | 1.75 | 255,029,699 | 15.39 | -6.5% |
1993 | 40,150 | 2,296 | 1.75 | 257,782,608 | 15.58 | 1.2% |
1994 | 40,716 | 2,358 | 1.73 | 260,327,021 | 15.64 | 0.4% |
1995 | 41,817 | 2,423 | 1.73 | 262,803,276 | 15.91 | 1.7% |
1996 | 42,065 | 2,486 | 1.69 | 265,228,572 | 15.86 | -0.3% |
1997 | 42,013 | 2,562 | 1.64 | 267,783,607 | 15.69 | -1.1% |
1998 | 41,501 | 2,632 | 1.58 | 270,248,003 | 15.36 | -2.1% |
1999 | 41,717 | 2,691 | 1.55 | 272,690,813 | 15.30 | -0.4% |
2000 | 41,945 | 2,747 | 1.53 | 282,216,952 | 14.86 | -2.9% |
2001 [10] | 42,196 | 2,797 | 1.51 | 285,226,284 | 14.79 | -0.5% |
2002 | 43,005 | 2,856 | 1.51 | 288,125,973 | 14.93 | 0.9% |
2003 | 42,884 | 2,890 | 1.48 | 290,796,023 | 14.75 | -1.8% |
2004 | 42,836 | 2,965 | 1.44 | 293,638,158 | 14.59 | -0.5% |
2005 | 43,510 | 2,989 | 1.46 | 296,507,061 | 14.67 | 0.4% |
2006 | 42,708 | 3,014 | 1.42 | 299,398,484 | 14.27 | -2.8% |
2007 | 41,259 | 3,031 | 1.36 | 301,139,947 | 13.70 | -3.9% |
2008 | 37,423 | 2,977 | 1.26 | 303,824,640 | 12.32 | -11.0% |
2009 | 33,883 | 2,957 | 1.15 | 306,700,000 | 11.05 | -9.7% |
2010 [10] | 32,999 | 2,967 | 1.11 | 309,326,000 | 10.67 | -3.5% |
2011 [11] | 32,479 | 2,950 | 1.10 | 311,588,000 | 10.42 | -2.3% |
2012 [12] | 33,782 | 2,969 | 1.14 | 313,914,000 | 10.75 | 2.6% |
2013 | 32,893 | 2,988 | 1.10 | 316,129,000 | 10.40 | -3.3% |
2014 | 32,744 | 3,026 | 1.08 | 318,860,000 | 10.28 | -1.2% |
2015 | 35,485 | 3,095 | 1.15 | 321,370,000 | 11.06 | 7.6% |
2016 [13] | 37,806 | 3,174 | 1.19 | 323,121,000 | 11.59 | 4.8% |
2017 [13] [14] | 37,473 | 3,213 | 1.16 | 326,213,213 | 11.40 | -1.6% |
2018 [14] [15] | 36,835 | 3,223 | 1.13 | 327,096,265 | 11.18 | -1.9% |
2019 [16] | 36,355 | 3,248 | 1.10 | 328,231,337 [17] | 10.99 | -1.2% |
2020 [18] | 38,824 | 2,904 | 1.34 | 331,449,281 [19] | 11.67 | 7.1% |
2021 [20] | 42,939 [21] | 3,230 [22] | 1.37 | 332,915,073 [23] | 12.89 | 10.5% |
2022 [24] | 42,795 [25] | 1.35 | 338,289,857 [26] | -0.3% | ||
A seat belt, also known as a safety belt or spelled seatbelt, is a vehicle safety device designed to secure the driver or a passenger of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result during a collision or a sudden stop. A seat belt reduces the likelihood of death or serious injury in a traffic collision by reducing the force of secondary impacts with interior strike hazards, by keeping occupants positioned correctly for maximum effectiveness of the airbag, and by preventing occupants being ejected from the vehicle in a crash or if the vehicle rolls over.
A crash test dummy, or simply dummy, is a full-scale anthropomorphic test device (ATD) that simulates the dimensions, weight proportions and articulation of the human body during a traffic collision. Dummies are used by researchers, automobile and aircraft manufacturers to predict the injuries a person might sustain in a crash. Modern dummies are usually instrumented to record data such as velocity of impact, crushing force, bending, folding, or torque of the body, and deceleration rates during a collision.
Automotive safety is the study and practice of automotive design, construction, equipment and regulation to minimize the occurrence and consequences of traffic collisions involving motor vehicles. Road traffic safety more broadly includes roadway design.
Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, and passengers of on-road public transport.
Seat belt legislation requires the fitting of seat belts to motor vehicles and the wearing of seat belts by motor vehicle occupants to be mandatory. Laws requiring the fitting of seat belts to cars have in some cases been followed by laws mandating their use, with the effect that thousands of deaths on the road have been prevented. Different laws apply in different countries to the wearing of seat belts.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is an agency of the U.S. federal government, part of the Department of Transportation, focused on transportation safety in the United States.
The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act was enacted in the United States in 1966 to empower the federal government to set and administer new safety standards for motor vehicles and road traffic safety. The Act was the first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles. The Act created the National Highway Safety Bureau. The Act was one of a number of initiatives by the government in response to increasing number of cars and associated fatalities and injuries on the road following a period when the number of people killed on the road had increased 6-fold and the number of vehicles was up 11-fold since 1925. The reduction of the rate of death attributable to motor-vehicle crashes in the United States represents the successful public health response to a great technologic advance of the 20th century—the motorization of the United States.
Bicycle safety is the use of road traffic safety practices to reduce risk associated with cycling. Risk can be defined as the number of incidents occurring for a given amount of cycling. Some of this subject matter is hotly debated: for example, which types of cycling environment or cycling infrastructure is safest for cyclists. The merits of obeying the traffic laws and using bicycle lighting at night are less controversial. Wearing a bicycle helmet may reduce the chance of head injury in the event of a crash.
This is a list of numbers of motorcycle deaths in U.S. by year from 1994 to 2014. United States motorcycle fatalities increased every year for 11 years after reaching a historic low of 2,116 fatalities in 1997, then increased to over 5,000 around 2008 and then plateaued in the 4 to 5 thousands range in the 2010s. In nine years motorcycle deaths more than doubled from the late 1990s to 2008. Despite providing less than 1% of miles driven, they made up 15% of traffic deaths in 2012.
Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was created in the United States by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to provide an overall measure of highway safety, to help suggest solutions, and to help provide an objective basis to evaluate the effectiveness of motor vehicle safety standards and highway safety programs.
Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents annually killing 32,479 people in 2011 to over 42,000 people in 2022. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles. For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.
Aggressive driving is defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as the behaviour of an individual who "commits a combination of moving traffic offences so as to endanger other persons or property."
86 percent of people in the United States use private automobiles as their primary form of transportation to their workplace.
Road traffic collisions generally fall into one of five common types:
A traffic collision, also known as a motor vehicle collision, or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other moving or stationary obstruction, such as a tree, pole or building. Traffic collisions often result in injury, disability, death, and property damage as well as financial costs to both society and the individuals involved. Road transport is statistically the most dangerous situation people deal with on a daily basis, but casualty figures from such incidents attract less media attention than other, less frequent types of tragedy. The commonly used term car accident is increasingly falling out of favor with many government departments and organizations, with the Associated Press style guide recommending caution before using the term. Some collisions are intentional vehicle-ramming attacks, staged crashes, vehicular homicide or vehicular suicide.
Worldwide, it was estimated that 1.25 million people were killed and many millions more were injured in motor vehicle collisions in 2013. This makes motor vehicle collisions the leading cause of death among young adults of 15–29 years of age and the ninth most frequent cause of death for all ages worldwide. In the United States, 40,100 people died and 2.8 million were injured in crashes in 2017, and around 2,000 children under 16 years old die every year.
Alcohol-related traffic crashes are defined by the United States National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as alcohol-related if either a driver or a non-motorist had a measurable or estimated BAC of 0.01 g/dl or above.
People who are driving as part of their work duties are an important road user category. First, workers themselves are at risk of road traffic injury. Contributing factors include fatigue and long work hours, delivery pressures, distractions from mobile phones and other devices, lack of training to operate the assigned vehicle, vehicle defects, use of prescription and non-prescription medications, medical conditions, and poor journey planning. Death, disability, or injury of a family wage earner due to road traffic injury, in addition to causing emotional pain and suffering, creates economic hardship for the injured worker and family members that may persist well beyond the event itself.
List of cyclist or cycling deaths in U.S. by year
Tesla Autopilot is an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) developed by Tesla that amounts to partial vehicle automation. Tesla provides "Base Autopilot" on all vehicles, which includes lane centering and traffic-aware cruise control. Owners may purchase an upgrade to "Enhanced Autopilot" (EA) which adds semi-autonomous navigation on limited access roadways, self-parking, and the ability to summon the car from a garage or parking spot. The company claims the features reduce accidents caused by driver negligence and fatigue from long-term driving. Collisions and deaths involving Tesla cars with Autopilot engaged have drawn the attention of the press and government agencies.
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