Every year since 1975, NHTSA has recorded every crash on a US public road in which someone died. Across those 50 years the number of deaths has swung by almost 19,000 a year between its highest and lowest points.
| Category | Deaths | Fatal crashes |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 44,525 | 39,161 |
| 1976 | 45,523 | 39,747 |
| 1977 | 47,878 | 42,211 |
| 1978 | 50,331 | 44,433 |
| 1979 | 51,093 | 45,223 |
| 1980 | 51,091 | 45,284 |
| 1981 | 49,301 | 44,000 |
| 1982 | 43,945 | 39,092 |
| 1983 | 42,589 | 37,976 |
| 1984 | 44,257 | 39,631 |
| 1985 | 43,825 | 39,196 |
| 1986 | 46,087 | 41,090 |
| 1987 | 46,390 | 41,438 |
| 1988 | 47,087 | 42,130 |
| 1989 | 45,582 | 40,741 |
| 1990 | 44,599 | 39,836 |
| 1991 | 41,508 | 36,937 |
| 1992 | 39,250 | 34,942 |
| 1993 | 40,150 | 35,780 |
| 1994 | 40,716 | 36,254 |
| 1995 | 41,817 | 37,241 |
| 1996 | 42,065 | 37,494 |
| 1997 | 42,013 | 37,324 |
| 1998 | 41,501 | 37,107 |
| 1999 | 41,717 | 37,140 |
| 2000 | 41,945 | 37,526 |
| 2001 | 42,196 | 37,862 |
| 2002 | 43,005 | 38,491 |
| 2003 | 42,884 | 38,477 |
| 2004 | 42,836 | 38,444 |
| 2005 | 43,510 | 39,252 |
| 2006 | 42,708 | 38,648 |
| 2007 | 41,259 | 37,435 |
| 2008 | 37,423 | 34,172 |
| 2009 | 33,883 | 30,862 |
| 2010 | 32,999 | 30,296 |
| 2011 | 32,479 | 29,867 |
| 2012 | 33,782 | 31,006 |
| 2013 | 32,893 | 30,202 |
| 2014 | 32,744 | 30,056 |
| 2015 | 35,484 | 32,538 |
| 2016 | 37,806 | 34,748 |
| 2017 | 37,473 | 34,560 |
| 2018 | 36,835 | 33,919 |
| 2019 | 36,355 | 33,487 |
| 2020 | 39,007 | 35,935 |
| 2021 | 43,230 | 39,785 |
| 2022 | 42,721 | 39,422 |
| 2023 | 41,025 | 37,769 |
| 2024 | 39,254 | 36,297 |
A fatal crash can kill more than one person, so there are more deaths than fatal crashes.
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Three turning points
- 1979: the peak. 51,093 people died, the most in any year on record here. 1980 was almost the same, at 51,091.
- 2011: the low. Deaths fell to 32,479, 36% below the 1979 peak.
- 2021: the jump. Deaths rose from 36,355 in 2019 to 43,230 in 2021, the most since 2005. They have fallen each year since, to 39,254 in 2024.
Counts alone leave out the country's growth. Adjusted for population, the rate was 14.9 deaths per 100,000 people in 2000, fell to 10.4 in 2011, rose to 13.0 in 2021 and was 11.5 in 2024. Population estimates for this site start in 2000.
| Category | Deaths per 100,000 |
|---|---|
| 2000 | 14.9 |
| 2001 | 14.8 |
| 2002 | 15.0 |
| 2003 | 14.8 |
| 2004 | 14.6 |
| 2005 | 14.7 |
| 2006 | 14.3 |
| 2007 | 13.7 |
| 2008 | 12.3 |
| 2009 | 11.1 |
| 2010 | 10.7 |
| 2011 | 10.4 |
| 2012 | 10.8 |
| 2013 | 10.4 |
| 2014 | 10.3 |
| 2015 | 11.1 |
| 2016 | 11.7 |
| 2017 | 11.5 |
| 2018 | 11.3 |
| 2019 | 11.1 |
| 2020 | 11.8 |
| 2021 | 13.0 |
| 2022 | 12.8 |
| 2023 | 12.2 |
| 2024 | 11.6 |
Uses Census population estimates, which are available from 2000.
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Who died has changed
Pedestrians. 8,096 pedestrians died in 1979. The number roughly halved to 4,109 in 2009, then rose again to 7,593 in 2022, the most since 1981. In 2024, pedestrians were 18.0% of all traffic deaths, up from 12.1% in 2009.
| Category | Deaths |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 7,516 |
| 1976 | 7,427 |
| 1977 | 7,732 |
| 1978 | 7,795 |
| 1979 | 8,096 |
| 1980 | 8,070 |
| 1981 | 7,837 |
| 1982 | 7,331 |
| 1983 | 6,826 |
| 1984 | 7,025 |
| 1985 | 6,808 |
| 1986 | 6,779 |
| 1987 | 6,745 |
| 1988 | 6,870 |
| 1989 | 6,556 |
| 1990 | 6,482 |
| 1991 | 5,801 |
| 1992 | 5,549 |
| 1993 | 5,649 |
| 1994 | 5,489 |
| 1995 | 5,584 |
| 1996 | 5,449 |
| 1997 | 5,321 |
| 1998 | 5,228 |
| 1999 | 4,939 |
| 2000 | 4,763 |
| 2001 | 4,901 |
| 2002 | 4,851 |
| 2003 | 4,774 |
| 2004 | 4,675 |
| 2005 | 4,892 |
| 2006 | 4,795 |
| 2007 | 4,699 |
| 2008 | 4,414 |
| 2009 | 4,109 |
| 2010 | 4,302 |
| 2011 | 4,457 |
| 2012 | 4,818 |
| 2013 | 4,779 |
| 2014 | 4,910 |
| 2015 | 5,494 |
| 2016 | 6,080 |
| 2017 | 6,075 |
| 2018 | 6,374 |
| 2019 | 6,272 |
| 2020 | 6,565 |
| 2021 | 7,470 |
| 2022 | 7,593 |
| 2023 | 7,367 |
| 2024 | 7,080 |
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Motorcyclists. Deaths fell from 5,144 in 1980 to 2,116 in 1997, then more than doubled. 2023 had the most motorcyclist deaths in the series, 6,367.
| Category | Deaths |
|---|---|
| 1975 | 3,189 |
| 1976 | 3,312 |
| 1977 | 4,104 |
| 1978 | 4,577 |
| 1979 | 4,894 |
| 1980 | 5,144 |
| 1981 | 4,906 |
| 1982 | 4,453 |
| 1983 | 4,265 |
| 1984 | 4,608 |
| 1985 | 4,564 |
| 1986 | 4,566 |
| 1987 | 4,036 |
| 1988 | 3,662 |
| 1989 | 3,141 |
| 1990 | 3,244 |
| 1991 | 2,806 |
| 1992 | 2,395 |
| 1993 | 2,449 |
| 1994 | 2,320 |
| 1995 | 2,227 |
| 1996 | 2,161 |
| 1997 | 2,116 |
| 1998 | 2,294 |
| 1999 | 2,483 |
| 2000 | 2,897 |
| 2001 | 3,197 |
| 2002 | 3,270 |
| 2003 | 3,714 |
| 2004 | 4,028 |
| 2005 | 4,576 |
| 2006 | 4,837 |
| 2007 | 5,174 |
| 2008 | 5,312 |
| 2009 | 4,469 |
| 2010 | 4,518 |
| 2011 | 4,630 |
| 2012 | 4,986 |
| 2013 | 4,692 |
| 2014 | 4,594 |
| 2015 | 5,029 |
| 2016 | 5,337 |
| 2017 | 5,226 |
| 2018 | 5,038 |
| 2019 | 5,044 |
| 2020 | 5,619 |
| 2021 | 6,137 |
| 2022 | 6,255 |
| 2023 | 6,367 |
| 2024 | 6,227 |
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Cyclists. Cyclist deaths were 1,003 in 1975 and fell to 623 in 2010. They then rose to 1,173 in 2023, the most in the series.
Alcohol-impaired driving. In 1982, the first year with blood alcohol estimates, 21,113 people died in crashes involving a driver at .08 or above: 48.0% of all deaths. In 2024 the figure was 11,904, or 30.3%.
About these figures
Years before 2020 are loaded as national totals from NHTSA's file for each year. FARS changed how it codes people and vehicles in 1982 and 1991, so each period is counted with its own codes, and the results were checked against NHTSA's published totals. How older years are counted