Car Crash Deaths and Rates

Motor-vehicle Fatality Trends

Between 1913 and 2021, the number of motor-vehicle deaths in the United States (which include all types of motor vehicles, including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles) increased 1,018%, from 4,200 deaths in 1913 to 46,980 in 2021. However, the role cars play in daily life is vastly different now than when tracking began.

In 1913, there were about 1.3 million vehicles and 2 million drivers, and the number of miles driven was not yet estimated. The latest 2021 data report 282.4 million vehicles, 228 million licensed drivers, and 3,140 billion miles driven annually.

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By all measures, motor-vehicle safety has vastly improved since the early 1900s. Driver attitudes and behaviors have changed substantially, as has vehicle safety technology, which makes car travel safer.

The population motor-vehicle death rate reached its peak in 1937 with 30.8 deaths per 100,000 population. The current rate is 14.3 per 100,000, representing a 54% improvement.

In 1913, 33.38 people died for every 10,000 vehicles on the road. In 2021, the death rate was 1.66 per 10,000 vehicles, a 95% improvement.

In 1923, the first year miles driven was estimated, the motor-vehicle death rate was 18.65 deaths for every 100 million miles driven. Since 1923, the mileage death rate has decreased 92% and now stands at 1.50 deaths per 100 million miles driven.

Despite these historic drops, we cannot remain complacent. In 2021, the vehicle death rate increased 8.5%, the mileage death rate increased 2.7%, while the population death rate increased 11% from 2020.  

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Source: Deaths are from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), except 1964, which are National Safety Council (NSC) estimates based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS). See Technical Appendix for comparability. Motor-vehicle registrations, mileage, and drivers are estimated by the Federal Highway Administration, except for 2021 registrations and drivers, which are NSC estimates.