Historical Fatality Trends

Motor-vehicle Fatality Trends

Between 1913 and 2024, the number of motor-vehicle deaths in the United States (which includes all types of motor vehicles, including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and motorcycles) increased by 918%, from 4,200 deaths in 1913 to 42,789 in 2024. However, the role of cars 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 2024 data report 297.5 million vehicles, 241 million licensed drivers, and 3,294 billion miles driven annually.

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 12.6 per 100,000, representing a 59% improvement.

In 1913, 33.38 people died for every 10,000 vehicles on the road. In 2024, the death rate was 1.44 per 10,000 vehicles, a 96% 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 93% and now stands at 1.30 deaths per 100 million miles driven.

Despite these historic drops, we cannot remain complacent. From 2019 to 2024, the vehicle death rate increased by 2.1%, the mileage death rate increased by 8.3%, while the population death rate increased by 5.9%.

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.