Overview

A total of 36,560 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2018. The U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent estimate of the annual economic cost of crashes is $242 billion dollars. 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 2019.