How many people die in car accidents every year? We lose far too many people in car accidents every year – shattering families and costing the economy $340 billion a year.
If you lost a loved one in a car accident, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses. A local car accident lawyer can review your case and discuss your legal rights. If you decide to work together, you will have an advocate working with you through every step of the claims process.
How Many People Die in Car Accidents Every Year?
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 1.3 million people are killed in car accidents every year. The worldwide average traffic fatality rate is 17.4 deaths per 100,000 people, with lower income countries experiencing higher rates. In the United States alone, more than 46,000 people die in car crashes each year. The U.S. traffic fatality rate is 12.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
Fatal car accident statistics
- Injuries sustained in traffic accidents are the number one cause of death among teenagers.
- Pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists make up more than half of all victims in road traffic deaths.
- In the United States, the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash (in 2020) was 1 in 101.
- In 2020, Massachusetts had the lowest motor-vehicle accident death rate per 100,000 population and Mississippi had the highest.
Most fatal types of car accidents
These types of car accidents lead to the most fatalities:
- Rear-end accident
- Head-on collision
- Rollover accident
- Side-impact collision
- Off-road crash (often single-vehicle)
Common Causes of Deadly Car Accidents
The most common causes of fatal car accidents are:
- Distracted driving. Research from the American Automobile Association’s Traffic Safety Division reveals that between 25-50 percent of all car accidents are caused by distracted driving.
- Drunk Driving. The NHTSA reports that drunk drivers account for more than 32 percent of all traffic fatalities in the United States each year.
- Speeding. Excessive and inappropriate speeding are responsible for 30 percent of traffic accident deaths in high income countries like the United States.
- Aggressive driving. More than half of fatal crashes are caused by road rage behaviors such as speeding, changing lanes without signaling, tailgating, and other traffic violations.
- Inclement weather. According to data from the US Department of Transportation, approximately 21 percent of all motor vehicle crashes are weather-related.
Where do most traffic fatalities happen?
Most traffic accidents happen close to home; which may be because drivers tend to let their guard down in familiar places. Overall, the most common places for car accidents are:
- Rural areas
- Interstates
- Intersections
- Parking lots
Who is most likely to die in a car accident?
Certain groups have a higher rate of traffic fatalities than others:
- Teenagers are new drivers and they are the most likely group to be involved in a car accident, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC).
- Males have a higher crash death rate than females at all ages. The highest traffic fatality rate is males between the ages of 20-25, according to the IIHS.
- People with lower socioeconomic backgrounds are statistically more likely to be involved in car accidents, which means that states with higher levels of poverty tend to have more car accidents.
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.
