Driving safety statistics at a glance
Driving safety is a numbers story before it is anything else. The latest figures show where the risks cluster, which behaviors carry the biggest penalties, and which safety habits still leave room for improvement.
Table of contents
- The current U.S. crash picture
- Risk factors that keep showing up
- Pedestrians, motorcyclists, teens, and older drivers
- Seat belts, child passengers, and restraint use
- Global context
- How to read these statistics
The current U.S. crash picture
The headline number is still large: 39,345 people died in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024 (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates). That total sits alongside a 2024 U.S. traffic fatality rate of 1.20 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates).
Two details matter at the same time. First, vehicle miles traveled increased 1% in 2024 (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates). Second, NHTSA projected 36,640 traffic fatalities in 2025, with a projected 2025 U.S. traffic fatality rate of 1.10 fatalities per 100 million VMT, the second-lowest in recorded history (NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS).
Fast facts box
- 39,345 people died in U.S. traffic crashes in 2024 (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates)
- 1.20 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2024 (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates)
- 36,640 projected traffic fatalities in 2025 (NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS)
- 1.10 projected fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2025 (NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS)
- Vehicle miles traveled increased 1% in 2024 (NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates)
A useful way to read those figures is to separate total exposure from risk rate. When miles driven rise, total deaths can stay elevated even if the rate improves. That is why the projected 2025 fatality rate matters as much as the projected fatality count (NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS).
A compact comparison of key rates
| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 U.S. traffic fatalities | 39,345 | NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates |
| 2024 fatality rate | 1.20 per 100 million VMT | NHTSA Releases 2023 Traffic Deaths, 2024 Estimates |
| First half of 2024 fatality rate | 1.17 per 100 million VMT | NHTSA Releases 2024 Early Estimates |
| First half of 2023 fatality rate | 1.21 per 100 million VMT | NHTSA Releases 2024 Early Estimates |
| 2025 projected fatalities | 36,640 | NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS |
| 2025 projected fatality rate | 1.10 per 100 million VMT | NHTSA Releases 2025 Traffic Death Estimates & 2024 FARS |
The table makes one trend obvious: the rate is more informative than the raw count when comparing years with different travel volumes. The first-half 2024 rate of 1.17 fatalities per 100 million VMT was down from 1.21 in the first half of 2023 (NHTSA Releases 2024 Early Estimates). That is a small numerical shift, but it is still the kind of change analysts watch closely because it tracks risk exposure rather than just headline volume.
Risk factors that keep showing up
Three behaviors appear again and again in the data: alcohol impairment, distraction, and speeding. Each one is tied to thousands of deaths, and each one is a separate lever for prevention.
Alcohol-impaired driving
In 2024, 11,904 people died in alcohol-impaired driving traffic deaths (NHTSA Drunk Driving). Roughly 30% of all U.S. traffic crash fatalities involved drunk drivers with BACs of 0.08 g/dL or higher (NHTSA Drunk Driving). One person was killed in a drunk-driving crash every 44 minutes in the United States in 2024 (NHTSA Drunk Driving).
Those three numbers tell the same story from different angles. The count shows scale, the share shows prevalence, and the time interval shows how frequently these deaths occur. Taken together, they point to a persistent and high-impact risk rather than a rare exception.
Distracted driving
Distracted driving remains one of the most visible safety problems because it affects both deaths and injuries. In 2024, 3,208 people were killed in traffic crashes involving distracted drivers (NHTSA Distracted Driving Dangers and Statistics). In the same year, more than 315,000 people were injured in traffic crashes involving distracted drivers (NHTSA Put the Phone Away or Pay).
The death count alone is serious, but the injury figure shows how wide the harm spreads. That makes distraction different from a narrow crash subtype. It is a broad exposure problem that can turn routine travel into a severe-risk event (NHTSA Put the Phone Away or Pay; NHTSA Distracted Driving Dangers and Statistics).
Speeding
Speeding killed 11,288 people in the United States in 2024 (NHTSA El Exceso de Velocidad Mata). That puts speeding in the same conversation as other major dangerous behaviors rather than a secondary contributor. If you are scanning driving safety statistics for the single most actionable interpretation, speeding belongs near the top of the list because it is a direct crash severity factor and a frequent behavioral choice (NHTSA El Exceso de Velocidad Mata).
Pedestrians, motorcyclists, teens, and older drivers
Crash risk is not evenly distributed. Some road users are exposed to much more severe outcomes even when the total number of trips is smaller. That is why group-level statistics matter.
Pedestrians
In 2024, 7,080 pedestrians were killed in traffic crashes nationwide (NHTSA Pedestrian Safety). A pedestrian was killed every 74 minutes in traffic crashes in 2024 (NHTSA Pedestrian Safety). More than 71,000 pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes in 2024 (NHTSA Pedestrian Safety).
These figures show how vulnerable people on foot remain in the traffic system. The fatality cadence alone is alarming, but the injury count is the broader signal that pedestrian risk is not limited to the worst-case events.
Motorcyclists
Motorcyclists were 15% of all traffic fatalities in 2024, and 6,228 motorcyclists were killed in traffic crashes that year (NHTSA Motorcycle Safety). Motorcyclists were almost 27 times more likely than passenger car occupants to die per vehicle mile traveled, and almost 5 times more likely to be injured per vehicle mile traveled (NHTSA Motorcycle Safety).
That comparison is especially important because it normalizes risk by exposure. A raw fatality count can hide how much more dangerous the activity is per mile traveled. The data also show other contributing factors: 35% of motorcycle operators involved in fatal crashes were riding without valid motorcycle licenses in 2024, and 40% of motorcycle riders who died in single-vehicle crashes were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA Motorcycle Safety). DOT-compliant motorcycle helmet use was 74% in 2023 (NHTSA Motorcycle Safety).
Teen drivers
Teen driving statistics remain consistently severe. About 2,800 teens ages 13 to 19 were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2020, and about 227,000 were injured in those crashes (CDC Teen Drivers). Teen drivers ages 16 to 19 have a fatal crash rate almost three times as high as drivers ages 20 and older per mile driven (CDC Teen Drivers).
Behavioral factors still matter here. In recent years, about 10% of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were distracted at the time of the crash (NHTSA Parents: Talk to Your Teen Driver About Safe Driving). In 2024, speeding was a factor in 33% of passenger vehicle teen drivers involved in fatal crashes (NHTSA Parents: Talk to Your Teen Driver About Safe Driving).
Older drivers
Fatal crashes involving drivers age 65 and older made up 20% of all fatal traffic crashes in 2024 (NHTSA Older Drivers). In 2023, people age 65 and older accounted for 19% of all traffic fatalities (NHTSA Keeping Our Older Drivers Safe on the Road). Fatalities in traffic crashes involving older drivers increased 42% from 6,057 in 2013 to 8,572 in 2022 (NHTSA Consumer Alert: Older Drivers).
The age 65-and-older population increased 28% between 2014 and 2023 (NHTSA Keeping Our Older Drivers Safe on the Road). That demographic growth helps explain why older-driver crash data is not static. It also shows why this category needs to be tracked over time rather than treated as a single-year snapshot (NHTSA Keeping Our Older Drivers Safe on the Road).
Seat belts, child passengers, and restraint use
Restraint use is one of the clearest areas where behavior and outcomes are linked. The numbers are simple enough to read, but they also show how protection changes by seating position and age.
Overall seat belt use
In 2024, the national seat belt use rate was 91.2% (NHTSA Seat Belt Safety). That is a strong usage rate, but it still leaves a meaningful share of occupants unprotected. In 2024, nearly 60% of back seat passengers who were killed in a crash were unbuckled (NHTSA Seat Belt Safety).
The vehicle-type comparison is also clear. For occupants in SUVs, pickups, and vans, seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injury to the driver and front seat passenger by 60% (NHTSA Seat Belt Safety). That is a large protective effect and one of the most direct safety gains in the dataset.
Belt use by seating position
| Seating position | Share belted among people who died | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Driver seat | 51% | IIHS Seat Belts |
| Front passenger seat | 58% | IIHS Seat Belts |
| Second or third row | 32% | IIHS Seat Belts |
These figures show a consistent pattern: rear seating is not a guarantee of restraint use. The second- or third-row figure is especially important because it contrasts with the broader national belt-use rate and shows where fatal outcomes are still strongly associated with nonuse (IIHS Seat Belts).
The long-term change is also notable. In 1983, only 14% of front-seat occupants were observed using seat belts, versus more than 91% in 2024 (IIHS Seat Belts). That is one of the clearest examples in the dataset of sustained public-health progress over time.
Child passenger safety
Child passenger statistics show both progress and remaining gaps. In 2023, 1,019 child passengers ages 14 and younger were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S., and more than 142,000 were injured (CDC Child Passenger Safety). In 2023, 43% of children killed in crashes were not buckled up (CDC Child Passenger Safety).
The age-specific nonuse data help explain why child restraint guidance matters so much. In an observational study, fewer than 4% of children under age 1 were not buckled up. In that study, 6% of children ages 1 to 3 were not buckled up, 13% of children ages 4 to 7 were not buckled up, and 16% of children ages 8 to 12 were not buckled up (CDC Risk Factors for Child Passengers).
Booster seats are a clear example of targeted protection. Booster seat use reduces serious injury risk by 45% for children ages 4 to 8 compared with seat belt use alone (CDC Preventing Child Passenger Injury). The crash death rate among 7-year-olds was 25% lower in states with booster-seat laws covering 7-year-olds (CDC Preventing Child Passenger Injury).
One more child-safety statistic stands out because it links injury to impairment. In 2022, 25% of deaths among child passengers ages 14 and younger involved an alcohol-impaired driver (CDC Risk Factors for Child Passengers). That does not just identify a child-specific vulnerability. It also connects child safety to the same impairment problem that drives broader traffic death counts.
Global context
The U.S. numbers are severe, but they sit inside a much larger global burden. WHO estimated 1.19 million annual road traffic deaths worldwide in 2023 (WHO Global status report on road safety 2023). WHO reported that road traffic deaths had fallen 5% since 2010 by 2023 (WHO Global status report on road safety 2023).
Two additional WHO statements help frame the scale. WHO said road traffic crashes cause more than 2 deaths per minute worldwide and over 3,200 deaths per day worldwide (WHO news release on road safety 2023). Road traffic injuries are the leading killer of children and young people ages 5 to 29 worldwide (WHO Global status report on road safety 2023). More than half of road traffic fatalities occur among pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists worldwide (WHO Global status report on road safety 2023). Nine out of ten road traffic deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (WHO Global health achievements 2023).
That global picture matters because it shows the same pattern in a broader setting: the most vulnerable road users tend to carry the heaviest burden.
How to read these statistics
The best way to use driving safety statistics is to avoid treating every number as interchangeable. A fatality count measures impact. A rate per 100 million VMT measures risk. A subgroup share shows where the burden is concentrated. A time-based measure, like one death every 44 minutes, shows how frequently harm is occurring.
If you are comparing years, prioritize the rate. If you are comparing road-user groups, prioritize the subgroup-specific fatality and injury counts. If you are evaluating prevention efforts, focus on the behaviors that repeatedly show up in the data: alcohol impairment, distraction, speeding, and restraint nonuse (NHTSA Drunk Driving; NHTSA Distracted Driving Dangers and Statistics; NHTSA El Exceso de Velocidad Mata; NHTSA Seat Belt Safety).
The overall message is direct. U.S. driving safety has improved in some places, but the burden is still enormous, and the biggest risk factors remain highly visible in the latest statistics.