The United States typically sees between 35,000 and 43,000 car crash fatalities each year. The most recent complete data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports 42,514 deaths for 2022. This translates to roughly 116 people dying on American roads every day. However, this number represents a complex picture influenced by factors like vehicle miles traveled, speeding, and impaired driving.
It's more insightful to look at the fatality rate, which is the number of deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This rate helps account for changes in how much people drive. After decades of improvement, safety progress stalled in recent years, with a significant spike in dangerous driving behaviors during the pandemic. The table below shows key data points from NHTSA and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) to illustrate these trends.
| Year | Total Fatalities | Fatality Rate (per 100M VMT) | Key Contributing Factors |
|---|
| 2022 | 42,514 | 1.35 | Speeding, impaired driving, lack of seat belt use |
| 2021 | 42,939 | 1.37 | Increased risky driving post-pandemic lockdowns |
| 2020 | 38,824 | 1.34 | Fewer cars but higher speeds on open roads |
| 2019 | 36,355 | 1.11 | Pre-pandemic baseline |
| 2015 | 35,484 | 1.15 | Historical comparison point |
The leading causes of these fatalities are consistently preventable behaviors. Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for about 31% of all traffic deaths. Speeding is a factor in nearly 29% of fatalities. A persistent issue is failure to wear seat belts; almost half of the passengers killed in cars in 2022 were unrestrained. Understanding these numbers isn't just about statistics—it highlights the critical importance of personal responsibility behind the wheel to protect yourself and others.
