From the May 2014 Issue of Car and Driver

It is a certainty, death. And certainly, the automobile ranks among our favorite ways to court the Grim Reaper. Motor-vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for people younger than 35 years old in the United States, and they continue to rank high throughout adulthood, ahead of gun violence and most diseases.

But cars are not the most dangerous method of transportation. Both commuter airlines and mass transit pose a greater risk of fatality per mile traveled. Much less shocking is that motorcycles are the single most dangerous method of getting from point A to B. And if you’re looking for the lowest chance of meeting an untimely demise, a seat behind the wheel of a big rig—protected by all that mass and metal—is the place to be.

We culled the data that follows from the 505-page National Transportation Statistics report published by the Department of Transportation. If you’d like to waste several afternoons, download the report.

The Circle(s) of Death

Average fatality rates per 100 million miles, 2000–2011

1 Light trucks are defined as those less than 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including pickups, vans, and SUVs. Large trucks are more than 10,000 pounds GVWR. 2 Transit bus refers to local service on fixed routes; light rail refers to streetcars, tramways, and trolleys; heavy rail includes subways and similar electric rail service; commuter rail is electric or diesel rail service between suburbs and a central city (all transit data 2000–2008). 3 Train data includes both freight and passenger railroad operations.

The Bigger They Are

2011 fatalities by motor-vehicle type

2011 Fatal Crashes By . . . *

Land, See Air

- injuries by year, 2000–2011

Maybe Portland is Right

2011 motor-vehicle fatalities

Somewhere, Nader is Saying He Told Us So

Front seatbelts became mandatory equipment in 1968. Automotive safety regulations enacted over the past five decades may not have made cars more fun, but they have definitely curtailed the bloodshed. In raw numbers, the 32,367 motor-vehicle fatalities in 2011 don’t seem that much lower than 1960’s 36,399. But those crashing Corvairs and Continentals covered much less ground than do today’s cars. The total miles driven in 1960 amounted to roughly 719 billion, compared with 2.9 trillion in 2011, resulting in a drop in the fatality rate from more than 5 per 100 million vehicle miles to just more than 1.

Take The Bus

2011 transportation fatalities

34.9% Passenger-car occupants

27.0% Light-truck occupants

13.4% Motorcyclists

12.9% Pedestrians struck by motor vehicles

02.2% Recreational boating

02.0% Bicyclists struck by motor vehicles

01.8% Large-truck occupants

01.5% Other and unknown motor-vehicle occupants

01.3% General aviation

01.2% Railroad trespassers (excluding grade crossings)

00.6% Other non-occupants struck by motor vehicles

00.3% Highway-rail grade crossings, not involving motor vehicles

00.2% Heavy-rail transit (subway)

00.2% Bus occupants

00.5% All others

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