Car accident statistics show the scale and changing profile of fatal motor-vehicle crashes in the United States. This overview covers national deaths, passenger-vehicle occupants, alcohol and drug measures, pedestrians, hit-and-run crashes, speeding, and motorcycles, while keeping estimates, surveys, and fatality-census data distinct.
Key Car Accident Statistics
The most broadly useful figures span national trends, road-user groups, and major contributing factors:
- In 2022, 42,795 people died in U.S. motor-vehicle traffic crashes, according to an early NHTSA estimate.
- The estimated U.S. traffic-death count was 0.3% lower in 2022 than the 42,939 reported in 2021.
- The estimated U.S. traffic fatality rate fell to 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2022, from 1.37 in 2021.
- U.S. vehicle miles traveled increased by almost 1% from 2021 to 2022.
- IIHS counted 39,254 U.S. motor-vehicle crash deaths in 2024.
- Passenger-vehicle occupant deaths declined to 22,713 in the United States in 2024, from 25,500 in 2022.
- Cars accounted for 11,769 passenger-vehicle occupant deaths in the United States in 2024.
- Drivers represented 76% of U.S. passenger-vehicle occupant deaths in 2024.
- Alcohol-impaired-driver crashes killed 13,524 people in the United States in 2022.
- Alcohol-impaired-driver crash deaths represented 32% of U.S. traffic-related deaths in 2022.
- The estimated 2022 cost of crash deaths involving alcohol-impaired drivers was about $143 billion in the United States.
- Pedestrian crash deaths reached 7,593 in the United States in 2022.
- Hit-and-run crashes accounted for 1,749 pedestrian deaths in the United States in 2024, or 25% of pedestrian deaths.
- Speeding-related crashes accounted for 11,913 U.S. deaths in 2023, or 29% of motor-vehicle crash deaths.
- Motorcyclist deaths totaled 6,366 in the United States in 2023.
- In a seven-trauma-center study from September 2019 through July 2021, 54% of seriously injured drivers tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs.
- The 2023 NSDUH estimated 15.5 million U.S. residents age 16 and older drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year.
Contents
- U.S. crash deaths and recent car accident trends
- Passenger-vehicle occupant statistics by vehicle type and sex
- Alcohol-impaired driving deaths and costs
- Pedestrian and hit-and-run accident statistics
- Speeding, motorcycle, and vulnerable-road-user statistics
- Drug-impaired and distracted-driving measures
U.S. Car Accident Statistics: Crash Deaths and Recent Trends
The main national measures come from NHTSA’s early estimates and IIHS fatality reporting. NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is a nationwide census of fatal injuries in motor-vehicle traffic crashes, so these figures are not totals for all police-reported collisions or all injury crashes.
- NHTSA estimated 42,795 U.S. traffic deaths in 2022, an early estimate that should be distinguished from later final FARS counts.
- The 2022 estimate was 0.3% below the 42,939 reported deaths in 2021; this comparison pairs a 2022 estimate with the reported 2021 count.
- The estimated fatality rate declined from 1.37 to 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled between 2021 and 2022, which is a VMT-based rate rather than a crash probability per trip.
- Vehicle miles traveled rose by almost 1% from 2021 to 2022.
Source: NHTSA Early Estimates: 2022 Traffic Crash Deaths
The quarterly pattern also changed after the pandemic-era increase. NHTSA reported seven consecutive quarters of increasing fatalities beginning in Q3 2020 before the later decline, and fatalities declined in Q4 2022 after three consecutive quarterly declines.
For 2022 versus 2021, NHTSA projected fatality decreases in 27 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, while projecting increases in 23 states. These were projections, not final state-by-state FARS results.
IIHS reports 39,254 U.S. motor-vehicle crash deaths in 2024. That statistic covers all motor-vehicle crash deaths and is not limited to passenger cars.
Source: Fatality Facts 2024: Motorcycles and ATVs
Car Accident Data by Passenger-Vehicle Occupant and Vehicle Type
Passenger-vehicle data narrows the population from all motor-vehicle crash deaths to people occupying passenger vehicles. IIHS vehicle categories distinguish cars, pickups, and SUVs, and the totals below should not be read as all crash victims.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger-vehicle occupant deaths | 25,500 | 24,017 | 22,713 |
| Passenger-vehicle driver deaths | 13,854 | 12,883 | — |
| Passenger-vehicle passenger deaths | 6,831 | 6,603 | — |
Source: Fatality Facts 2024: Passenger vehicle occupants. The driver series fell from 14,820 in 2021 to 13,854 in 2022, then to 12,883 in 2023.
In 2024, cars accounted for 11,769 occupant deaths, pickups for 4,034, and SUVs for 6,648. Drivers represented 75% of car occupant deaths, 83% of pickup occupant deaths, and 73% of SUV occupant deaths in that year.
Across all passenger-vehicle occupants in 2024, drivers represented 76% of deaths. The total includes other or unknown vehicle categories, so the vehicle-specific percentages should be interpreted within their respective populations.
Alcohol-Impaired Driving Accident Statistics and Costs
Alcohol-impaired-driver crashes are a defined category, not a synonym for every crash involving any alcohol-positive person. The CDC reports that these crashes killed 13,524 people in the United States in 2022, equal to 32% of all U.S. traffic-related deaths.
- Alcohol-impaired-driver crash deaths decreased 0.7% from 2021 to 2022.
- The 2022 total averaged 37 deaths per day, an annual average rather than an equal daily count.
- The same annual average was roughly one death every 39 minutes, not a literal schedule.
- The estimated 2022 cost of crash deaths involving alcohol-impaired drivers was about $143 billion, including medical costs and the estimated value of lives lost; it does not represent total property damage.
Source: CDC, Impaired Driving Facts
Alcohol-impaired-driver crashes affect people beyond the impaired driver. In 2022, impaired drivers themselves were 59% of people killed in these crashes; the remaining deaths included passengers, other road users, and nonoccupants.
Children ages 0–14 accounted for 283 deaths in alcohol-impaired-driver crashes in 2022, and those crashes represented 25% of traffic-related deaths among U.S. children ages 0–14.
IIHS counted 25,612 people killed in crashes involving at least one alcohol-impaired driver in 2023, including 5,406 alcohol-impaired-driver deaths. Within that 2023 total, 4,228 were occupants of other vehicles, 959 were passengers riding with the impaired driver, and 1,620 were nonoccupants.
Among fatally injured passenger-vehicle drivers in 2023, 45% with BAC at least 0.15% were estimated to be in that high-BAC group. This is a subgroup estimate among fatally injured drivers, not a share of all drivers or all trips.
Source: IIHS, Fatality Facts 2024: Alcohol
Pedestrian and Hit-and-Run Car Accident Statistics
Pedestrian deaths show how car accident outcomes extend beyond vehicle occupants. IIHS recorded 7,593 pedestrian crash deaths in 2022 and 7,367 in 2023 in the United States.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pedestrian deaths in motor-vehicle crashes | 7,593 | 7,367 | — |
| Pedestrian deaths in hit-and-run crashes | 1,939 (26%) | 1,844 (25%) | 1,749 (25%) |
Source: Fatality Facts 2024: Pedestrians. The hit-and-run percentages use pedestrian deaths as the denominator.
The long-run trend is uneven by population and measure. Pedestrian deaths increased 72% from the 2009 low point through 2024, while children under 13 experienced a 92% decline in pedestrian death rate from 1975 to 2024.
Hit-and-run pedestrian deaths rose from 1,123 in 2015 to 1,603 in 2020, before the later annual counts shown above. These are annual counts and are not adjusted for exposure.
In 2024, pedestrians accounted for 18% of all crash fatalities in the IIHS crash-fatality denominator. The statistic includes pedestrian fatalities in motor-vehicle crashes and should not be treated as a count of all pedestrian injuries.
Speeding, Motorcycle, and Vulnerable-Road-User Statistics
Speeding-related crashes accounted for 11,913 U.S. deaths in 2023, or 29% of the 41,025 U.S. motor-vehicle crash deaths that year. IIHS defines the category using a speeding citation or driver-related speed factors, and it can overlap with other behavioral factors.
Source: IIHS Fatality statistics yearly snapshot
Motorcycles represent another distinct road-user population. Motorcyclist deaths totaled 6,366 in 2023, while motorcycle deaths accounted for 16% of all U.S. motor-vehicle crash deaths in 2024.
- Motorcycle deaths increased 23% from 2019 to 2024.
- In 2024, 35% of motorcyclist deaths occurred in single-vehicle crashes.
- In 2024, 65% occurred in multiple-vehicle crashes.
Source: Fatality Facts 2024: Motorcycles and ATVs
The motorcycle figures are not passenger-car occupant counts. They are included here because a broad view of car accident statistics needs to distinguish vehicle type and road-user status rather than combine unlike populations.
Drug-Impaired and Distracted-Driving Accident Measures
The available drug-related figures measure different things: toxicology among seriously injured drivers, self-reported behavior, and fatal-crash outcomes. None should be presented as a national crash-causation rate, and a positive toxicology result does not by itself prove impairment or fault at the moment of a collision.
In a seven-trauma-center study covering September 2019 through July 2021, 54% of 4,243 seriously injured drivers tested positive for alcohol and/or drugs. The hospital-based sample found positive tests for 22% for alcohol, 25% for cannabis, 9% for opioids, 10% for stimulants, and 8% for sedatives.
Source: CDC, Impaired Driving Facts
The 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provides self-reported national estimates for U.S. residents age 16 and older:
- 15.5 million people, or 5.9% of respondents, reported driving under the influence of alcohol in the past year.
- 12.1 million people, or 4.6% of respondents, reported driving under the influence of cannabis in the past year.
- 2.2 million people, or 0.8% of respondents, reported driving under the influence of illicit drugs other than cannabis in the past year.
These NSDUH figures are survey estimates, not counts of crashes and not measurements of impairment in a particular collision. They also use a different population and measurement method from FARS fatality counts, IIHS tables, and the trauma-center study.
Source: CDC, Impaired Driving Facts