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50+ Car Accident Statistics in the U.S. & Worldwide

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Responsible for thousands of deaths every day and billions of dollars in expenses every year, car accidents are a global epidemic.

These car accident statistics are just the beginning. We reveal a lot more about U.S. and global automobile accident stats.

In this report, we cover:  

  • Key car accident statistics
  • How many people die in car accidents
  • Distracted driving and texting stats
  • Demographics of drivers involved in crashes
  • Costs of auto accidents
  • Percentage chance of getting into an accident
  • The places were more accidents occur
Car Accident Statistics
Table of Contents
Key Car Accident Statistics in 2021
Annual Global Road Accident Statistics
Annual United States Car Crash Statistics
General Auto Accident Stats

Please remember to follow traffic safety laws on the road so you don't become another statistic!

Key Car Accident Statistics in 2021

Here are three answers to the biggest questions we've seen around car crash statistics:

How Many Car Accidents Are There Per Year?

Every year, there are approximately 6.75 million car accidents in the US alone. (BTS)

How Many Car Accidents Per Day?

On average, there are approximately 18,510 car crashes per day in the US. (BTS)

How Many Car Accident Deaths Are There Per Year?

Approximately 1.35 million people are killed in fatal crashes each year. On average, that's about 3,700 deaths a day (globally). An additional 20-50 million are injured or disabled. (CDC)

Annual Global Road Accident Statistics

Auto accidents are a global epidemic, not confined to the U.S.. Here are the most important road crash statistics across the globe:

  • Approximately 1.35 million people are killed in car accidents each year. That means, on average, fatal crashes cause approximately 3,700 deaths per day. (CDC)
  • An additional 20-50 million people are injured or disabled. (WHO)
  • More than half of all road traffic deaths occur among young adults ages 15-44. (CDC)
  • Fatal crashes rank as the 8th leading cause of death and account for 2.2% of all deaths globally. (CDC)
  • Car crashes are the leading cause of death among children and young adults ages 5-29 and the second leading cause of death worldwide among young people and teen drivers ages 5-14. (WHO)
  • About three quarters (73%) of all road traffic deaths occur among young males under the age of 25 years who are almost 3 times as likely to be killed in a road traffic crash as young females. (WHO)
  • Over 90% of all road fatalities occur in low- and middle-income countries, which have less than half of the world’s vehicles. (WHO)
  • Road crashes and road traffic deaths cost individual countries ~3% of their annual GDP. (WHO)
  • Road traffic crashes cost low- and middle-income countries USD $65 billion annually, exceeding the total amount received in developmental assistance. (Pub Med)
  • Road traffic injuries are predicted to become the fifth leading cause of death by 2030. (WHO)
  • On average, nearly 2 million drivers are permanently disabled every year. (Sweeney Merrigan)
  • According to the National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey (NMVCCS) conducted from 2005 to 2007 with the aim of identifying the crucial factors that lead to motor vehicle crashes, fewer than 10% of accidents are caused by vehicle defects, the environment, or unknown reasons. In other words, more than 90% of all motor vehicle crash deaths stem from user error. (HG.org)

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Annual United States Car Crash Statistics

This section of the report covers all the studies and statistics related to people involved in fatal crashes and car deaths per year within the United States.

  • On average, there are 6.75 million car accidents in the U.S. every year. That's roughly 18,510 per day. (BTS)
  • Of these crashes, 22,471 caused only property damage. (Statista)
  • Over 38,000 Americans die in automobile crashes per year. More than 100 people die in accidents every day. (NHTSA)
  • An additional 3 million are injured or disabled annually. (CDC)
  • Road crashes are one of the greatest annual causes of death of healthy U.S. citizens traveling abroad. (Penn State University)
  • Over 1,200 children under 16 years of age die in car crashes each year. (NHTSA)
  • Nearly 8,000 people are killed in crashes involving drivers ages 16-20. (1-800 The Law)
  • Automotive accidents cost the U.S. $871 billion per year, or an average of $900 per person. (NHTSA)
  • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that seat belt use in 2019 was 92% in states with primary enforcement laws but only 86% in states with secondary enforcement laws or no seat belt laws. (CDC)
  • According to 2021 Road Safety Facts data, 29 people die every day in automotive crashes caused by drunk drivers. (CDC)
  • Teen drivers aged 16 to 19 are three times more likely to be involved in car crashes than older drivers. A study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety shows that teenage drivers are at greater risk than elderly people. Roughly 12.2% of motor vehicle crashes are caused by teen driving, while just 7.5% were caused by drivers over 65. (CDC)
  • Nearly 950,000 car crashes were caused by cell phone use while driving. So 1 out of every 6 motor vehicle accidents is caused by texting and driving. (NHTSA)

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General Auto Accident Stats

This section will discuss general statistics, facts and trends in the auto industry:

  • The most common causes of accidents resulting in death are drunk driving (28%) and speeding (26%). (CDC and NSC)*
  • 1 in 7 people don't wear their seat belt while driving. (CDC)
  • Seat belt use cuts the risk of serious injury by 50% and the risk of death by 45%. (CDC)
  • People not wearing a seat belt are 30 times more likely to be ejected from the vehicle in the event of a crash. Restraint use helps avoid unnecessary road accident deaths. (CDC)
  • About 57% of fatal car accidents involve only one vehicle, and 43% are caused by a traffic collision. (NHTSA and NHTSA)
  • In terms of accidents by state, the most crashes occurred in Texas and California during 2019. (NHTSA)
  • Most car accidents happen on the weekends, specifically on Saturday nights from 9pm-12am.
    (NHTSA)
  • The most common places where car accidents occur are parking lots, rural highways, stop signs, and two-lane roads. Additionally, many accidents happen during rush hour and in intersections. (NHTSA)
  • According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates, the cost of traffic accidents is almost $900 billion per year. (USA Today)
  • How many U.S. fatal car accidents occur on highways? The death rate in the U.S. is three times higher than in the UK — 12.4 deaths per 100,000 population every year. Arizona’s I-10 highway is considered one of the most dangerous highways in the U.S. with 916 traffic fatalities in 2018 alone. (AZ Central)
  • In 2019, the death rate was 1.41 per 10,000 vehicles, a 96% improvement. In 1923, the first year miles driven was estimated, the motor-vehicle fatality rate was 18.65 deaths for every 100 million miles driven. Since 1923, the mileage death rate has decreased 93% and now stands at 1.20 deaths per 100 million miles driven. (NSC)
  • Every day, 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve alcohol impaired driving. This is one death every 50 minutes. The annual cost of drunk driving related crashes totals more than $44 billion. (CDC)

*Drunk driving is not reported in all states and some only report a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 or more. These varying traffic laws make it difficult to measure the reported influence of alcohol on car accident fatality rate.

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Please practice road safety laws when driving and help the road become a safer place for all!

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(Last Updated On: September 18, 2021)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Be careful how you open this article. It implies that there are over 3000 people dying in car accidents in the UNITED STATES every single day. That’s really misleading how you have that stat nestled in a place where everything else you were talking about were US stats. It’s clearly the global number.

    Reply

    • Yes, that’s the global number. We updated it to better signal that. Thanks for pointing it out!

      Reply

    • It’s from the sources at the bottom of the page; we just compiled them we didn’t run the numbers ourselves. Fixed the typo though, thank you!

      Reply

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