Sadly, with more than a billion vehicles moving on the roads every day, some car accidents are almost inevitable. And yet, most collisions could be prevented if drivers avoided certain poor driving choices such as distracted driving, driving drunk, and aggressive driving behaviors such as speeding and tailgating. So, how many car accidents per year?
Nobody wants to be involved in a car accident. We all hope to avoid them and yet almost no driver will go their entire life without being involved in a car accident. But how many collisions do people get in over the course of their life? According to data from the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, the average driver will file a claim for a motor vehicle crash about once every 17.9 years. This means that over your driving life from say, age 16 to age 85, you are likely to experience three to four accidents.
How Many Car Accidents Per Year?
Global car crashes
There are no global numbers for total annual car crashes but we do know that almost 3,700 people are killed around the world each day in traffic accidents, according to cdc.gov. More than half of these deaths occur among pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. Over the course of the year, that adds up to 1.35 million lives lost and 20-50 million non-fatal injuries.
US car crashes
On average, there are over 6 million motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. every year. These accidents cost the lives of more than 46,000 people, according to the National Safety Council’s (NSC). In addition, approximately three million people are injured every year in car accidents with two million suffering permanent injuries.
Washington State car crashes
There are approximately 100,000 car accidents in Washington State each year, causing the deaths of more than 500 people per year and an additional 2,500 serious injuries.
Car accident statistics
According to Safer America, the total economic cost of car accidents in the United States each year is estimated at around $242 billion. The average accident claim includes more than $3,000 in property damage and over $15,000 in bodily injury claims. Property damage is mostly to vehicles involved in the accident and/or to personal items inside of them. Damage to other property caused by the accident such as road signs, buildings, yards, etc., is also somewhat common. The most common injuries suffered in car accidents are:
- Soft tissue injuries such as neck injuries and whiplash
- Traumatic brain injuries (TBI)
- Spinal cord injuries and paralysis
- Lacerations
- Bruises
- PTSD
- Crush injuries
- Back injuries
- Burns
- Internal injuries to organs
- Sprains and broken bones
Car accidents can be very minor all the way up to very severe. Minor collisions often occur at low-speeds while severe crashes often happen at high speeds on the freeway. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, rear-end accidents are the most common type of collision on U.S. roads, accounting for 29 percent of all accidents.
The most common causes of fatal accidents are:
- Alcohol (40 percent)
- Speeding (30 percent) and
- Reckless driving (33 percent).
Contact a car accident lawyer today!
A car accident lawyer can help you recover a full and fair settlement for the injuries you sustained in a car accident with no up-front costs to you. We know the sneaky strategies used by insurance companies to get injured people to agree to settlements far below what they are worth. Our clients typically end up with a settlement or jury award that is five to ten times larger than they could have negotiated on their own. We have been representing people injured in Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. Contact the experienced and hard-working personal injury lawyers at Tario & Associates, P.S. in Mount Vernon, WA today for a FREE consultation!
