Car Accident Statistics From NHTSA Data

What NHTSA Data Show About Traffic Deaths

National crash data shows how many people are killed on American roads each year and which driver behaviors are involved. Every figure below comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), and each one is tied to its data year. An auto accident lawyer may cite figures like these for background, but statistics describe patterns across many crashes rather than what happened in any one of them.

How many people die in crashes

According to NHTSA, 39,254 people died in traffic crashes in 2024, for a rate of 1.19 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Its early estimate for 2025 was 36,640 deaths, a 6.7 percent decrease from 2024, and a rate of 1.10 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Early estimates are revised once the year's data is final, so the https://sethmerc885.summitviewdaily.com/posts/diminished-value-and-other-car-crash-insurance-issues 2025 number may move.

Speeding and drunk driving

NHTSA reports that 11,288 people died in speeding-related crashes in 2024, and speeding was a contributing factor in 29 percent of all traffic fatalities that year. The agency also reports that 11,904 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes in 2024, which it describes as one person every 44 minutes. About 30 percent of all traffic fatalities involve drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 or higher. Even lower levels matter. In 2024, 2,028 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 to .07. Every state except Utah, which uses .05, sets the limit at a BAC of .08.

Distracted and drowsy driving

NHTSA states that 3,208 people were killed in crashes involving distracted drivers in 2024. It notes that sending or reading a text takes a driver's eyes off the road for 5 seconds, roughly the length of a football field at 55 mph. Fatigue is harder to count. NHTSA estimates that in 2017, 91,000 police-reported crashes involved drowsy drivers, leading to about 50,000 injuries and nearly 800 deaths, and it says that figure is widely viewed as an underestimate.

Restraint use

NHTSA states that 22,713 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in 2024, and nearly half of them, 48 percent, were unrestrained, based on known seat belt use. The national seat belt use rate was 91.3 percent in 2025. By NHTSA's estimate, seat belts saved 14,955 lives in 2017. In some states, not wearing a seat belt can be raised to reduce damages, while other states limit that defense. A car crash attorney can explain the rule where the crash happened.

What statistics cannot show

The categories overlap. A single crash can count as both speeding-related and alcohol-impaired, so the totals cannot be added together. NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) is a census of fatal crashes, and the Crash Report Sampling System (CRSS) is a sample of police-reported crashes. FARS data and the annual Traffic Safety Facts reports come from NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis, while many states also publish their own crash data. Such databases describe crashes but do not decide fault. A car accident attorney relies on the evidence in each claim, from the crash report to the medical records. This is general information, not legal advice.