Deaths down 2% as mileage increases slightly in 2022
The National Safety Council (NSC) estimate of total motor-vehicle deaths in 2022 is 46,270, down 2% from 46,980 in 2021 but up 9% from 42,339 in 2020. Mileage in 2022 increased 0.9% from 2021 and was up 9.2% from 2020. The estimated mileage death rate in 2022 is 1.46 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, down 2.7% from 1.50 in 2021 and stable compared to 2020. However, the mileage death rate is still up 21.7% from the pre-COVID normal in 2019 (1.2).
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reports the official mortality estimates for the United States and is used as a comparison to judge the accuracy of NSC preliminary estimates. The publication of NCHS final mortality estimates generally lags about one year. The most recent NCHS final estimate shows 46,980 deaths occurring in 2021. This compares to the NSC initial estimate of 46,020, with a difference of 2%.
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