Crashes took 37,133 lives in the U.S. in 2017.
A total of 37,133 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2017. The U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent estimate of the annual economic cost of crashes is $242 billion dollars. Blincoe, L.J.; Miller, T.R.; Zaloshnja, E. and Lawrence, B.A. 2015. The economic and societal impact of motor vehicle crashes, 2010 (revised). Report no. DOT HS-812-013. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Contributing to the death toll are alcohol, speeding, lack of safety belt use and other problematic driver behaviors. Death rates vary by vehicle type, driver age and gender, and other factors.
In 1975, the U.S. Department of Transportation started an annual census of motor vehicle deaths, recording information on crash type, vehicle type, road type, driver characteristics and a variety of other factors. Institute researchers analyze these data each year to quantify the public health problem of motor vehicle deaths.
The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
Posted December 2018.
A total of 37,133 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2017. These deaths occurred in 34,247 crashes involving 52,645 motor vehicles. This was a 2 percent decrease in deaths compared with 2016.
Although the U.S. population has been growing steadily since 1975, the rate of crash deaths per 100,000 population in 2017 is about half of what it was four decades ago. In 2017, the overall per capita death rate decreased 3 percent compared with 2016.
Sixty-four percent of crash fatalities in 2017 were passenger vehicle occupants, 16 percent were pedestrians, 14 percent were motorcyclists, 2 percent were bicyclists, and 2 percent were occupants of large trucks.
The rate of crash deaths per 100 million miles traveled decreased from 1.19 in 2016 to 1.16 in 2017. This rate is about one-third the all-time high rate of 3.36 in 1980. Federal Highway Administration. 2018. Highway statistics, 2017. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.
At all ages, males had higher per capita crash death rates than females in 2017. Males ages 85 and older and 20-24 had the highest rates of crash deaths, and females ages 12 and younger had the lowest rate.
From 1975 to 2017, the rate of deaths per 100,000 people declined by 77 percent for people 12 and younger (from 7.9 to 1.8), 68 percent for teenagers (from 29.4 to 9.3), 46 percent for people ages 20-34 (from 29.6 to 16.0), 30 percent for people ages 35-69 (from 17.5 to 12.3), and 44 percent for people 70 and older (from 25.9 to 14.6).
According to a national daytime observational survey of motorists, seat belt use among front seat occupants was 89.7 percent in 2017. Li, R., & Pickrell, T. M. (2018, April, revised). Seat belt use in 2017—Overall results. (Traffic Safety Facts Research Note. Report No. DOT HS 812 465). Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Unrestrained vehicle occupants are more likely than restrained occupants to be fatally injured in a crash, so belt use is much lower among fatally injured occupants. Among fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants age 13 and older in 2017, 49 percent of drivers and 46 percent of passengers were belted. These rates represent a 48 percent increase and a 59 percent increase, respectively, compared with 1995, when only 33 percent of fatally injured drivers and 29 percent of fatally injured passengers were belted.
In 2017, speeding was a factor in 26 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths. Speeding has been a factor in more than a quarter of crash deaths since 2008. Speeding is defined to include crashes in which the driver was issued a traffic citation for speeding or in which driver-related factors included driving too fast for conditions, racing or exceeding the posted speed limit.
In 2017, the percentage of crash deaths involving speeding was higher on minor roads (31 percent) than on interstates and freeways (27 percent) or on other major roads (23 percent).
Of the 9,717 speeding-related fatalities that occurred in 2017, about half (52 percent) occurred on roads with speed limits lower than 55 mph.
In 2017, February had the fewest crash deaths and July had the most.
In 2017, nearly half of crash deaths occurred on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.
In 2017, 33 percent of crash deaths occurred between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.
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