Motor-vehicle deaths in the United States have decreased greatly since the 1970s and 1980s. In 2022, there were around 13.8 deaths from motor vehicles per 100,000 population, compared to a rate of 26.8 deaths per 100,000 in 1970. Laws requiring drivers and passengers to wear safety belts and advancements in safety technology in vehicles are major drivers for these reductions.

Motor-vehicle accidents in the U.S.

Americans spend a significant amount of time behind the wheel. Many cities lack convenient and reliable public transportation and especially in rural areas, cars are a necessary means of transportation. In 2020, August was the month with the highest number of fatal crashes, followed by September and June. The deadliest time of day for fatal vehicle crashes is between 6 and 9 p.m., most likely due to the after-work rush hour and more people who are under the influence of alcohol.

Drinking and driving among youth

Drinking and driving remains a relevant problem across the United States and can be especially problematic among younger inexperienced drivers. As of 2017, around 5.5 percent of high school students reported they had driven while under the influence of alcohol. Drinking and driving is more common among males than females and Hispanic males reported drinking and driving more than other races or ethnicities.

About 228,200 Americans had a license to operate a motor vehicle in the United States in 2020. That year, an estimated 36,680 people died on U.S. roads. Traffic-related fatalities per 100,000 licensed drivers stood at 17.01 in 2020.

Road safety rankings
The United States has among the highest rates of road fatalities per population worldwide. Possible contributing factors to deaths on the road can include speeding, not wearing a seatbelt, driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and driving while fatigued. Traffic fatalities caused by speeding in the United States have declined since 2008, with less than 10,000 deaths recorded annually over recent years.

Automation for the nation
94 percent of severe automobile crashes are due to human error — but driving safety is taken much more seriously today than in the past, with roughly 90 percent of U.S. drivers wearing their seatbelts while driving in 2020. Over recent years, car manufacturers and developers have striven to reduce car crashes even further with partially and fully automated safety features such as forward collision warnings, lane departure warnings, rearview video systems, and automatic emergency braking. Self-driving vehicles are also set to take to the roads in the future, with car brands such as Toyota, Ford, and GM registering over 350 autonomous driving patents respectively in the United States.

In 2020, Molise and Sardinia reported the highest mortality rates for young people (aged 15 to 34 years old) involved in road accidents in Italy. The regions recorded a rate of 1 and 0.9 young people involved in fatal road accidents per 10,000 inhabitants. A year later, in 2021, 30 to 44 years old represented the largest share of road casualities in Italy.

In 2020, nearly 4.7 million passenger cars were involved in U.S. traffic crashes, accounting for 52 percent of the overall total. Second highest in number are light trucks, being involved in 3.8 million car crashes and accounting for 42 percent of the total. Motor vehicle crashes are among the leading causes of death among those under the age of 55 in the United States.

An overall decline in the number of road deaths in Russia was observed from 2007, when the highest volume of road fatalities was recorded countrywide in the given timeframe. The temporary growth of five percent between 2010 and 2012 was followed by a significant drop in the number of incidences over the following years. Namely, the count of road deaths in the country reduced nearly twofold by 2020 relative to the 2012 figures, measuring at 16,152 cases in the last observed period.

Mortality rate and causes of death in Russia   

Mortality rate has been gradually declining since 2000 in Russia, yet it remained greater than the rates measured prior to the 1990s. Even though road accidents were not the major cause of fatalities in the country, roughly 183 thousand residents were reported being injured in road traffic incidents in 2020. The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak at the beginning of 2020 ranked Russia as one of the most affected worldwide. The coronavirus-related mortality rate, nonetheless, was measured significantly lower than in most countries with a somewhat similar number of disease cases.

General outlook   

Despite the fact that road fatalities have been in decline in Russia, the country was listed second by road mortality worldwide after Georgia in 2017. The most significant decline in road death rates among the European countries was recorded in Norway in the same year.

The number of road-traffic related injuries in the United States has decreased by roughly 17 percent between 2019 and 2020, whereas fatalities increased by almost 8 percent. Between 2010 and 2020, road traffic injuries in the United States grew by nearly 34,000 incidents to some 2.28 million road traffic related injuries in 2020. Over the same period, fatalities also increased by about 5,800. This follows two decades of a general decrease in the amount of traffic-related injuries.

Why are traffic injuries increasing? In the United States, male drivers are behind the wheel in the majority of fatal crashes. Though speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol are often to blame, neither have led to a rise in traffic fatalities in the U.S.: instead, cellphones are primarily the cause. Smartphone ownership has become almost omnipresent in the U.S. since 2010, and drivers are likely to be distracted by texting and using social media. Young drivers are the ones accounting for the highest share of cellphone use fatalities.

Changes in mobility Another reason why fatal accidents are rising in number is that non-occupants’ exposure to risk is also increasing. As residents become more encouraged to walk or cycle in cities, the extra time amongst traffic has led to higher rates of fatalities and injuries amongst cyclists and pedestrians. Lastly, poor infrastructure and lack of awareness by motorists is prevalent in large parts of the United States.

In 2020, it was reported that there were approximately 55 thousand casualties and injuries from traffic accidents in Thailand. In comparison, Brunei recorded around 340 traffic accident casualties in 2020.

In 2022, the state of California reported almost 4,100 motor-vehicle deaths, a slight decrease from the year before. Death from motor-vehicles remains a relevant problem across the United States.

Motor-vehicle deaths in the United States

In the United States, a person’s lifetime odds of dying in a motor vehicle accident is around 1 in 93. Death rates from motor vehicles have decreased in recent years and are significantly lower than the rates recorded in the 1970s and 1980s. This is due to a mass improvement in car safety standards and features. For example, all states, with the exception of New Hampshire, have laws against not wearing safety belts.

Drinking and driving

One of the biggest causes of motor-vehicle deaths is driving while under the influence of alcohol. The state with the highest number of fatalities due to alcohol-impaired driving in 2020 was Texas, followed by California and Florida. Passenger cars are the vehicle type most often involved in fatal crashes caused by alcohol-impaired drivers, with around 4,726 such accidents in the United States in 2020.

In the period of consideration, the number of road traffic fatalities in Romania peaked in 2008, totaling 3,065 deaths. Despite minor oscillations, the number of victims recorded a declining trend. Thus, by 2020 road traffic fatalities reached 1,646. This represented a decrease of roughly 40 percent compared to 2008. By contrast, the number of non-fatal road traffic injuries decreased to almost 28 thousand in 2020.

 Main causes of road traffic accidents  

In Romania, the main cause of road traffic accidents was speeding. At the same time, drinking among drivers and pedestrians who were jaywalking was still an important concern in 2019. As a consequence, there were 1,452 male car drivers under the influence of alcohol involved in car accidents in which at least one person was injured. Just as important, more than six thousand car accidents in 2019 happened because of collisions due to crossing or turning.

Crimes against road traffic safety 

Compared to the last decade, in Romania, as well as worldwide, there has been a change regarding the types of crimes committed. As a result, traditional crimes such as offenses against one’s physical and mental integrity, along with offenses against one’s property decreased. Instead, corruption offenses and crimes against road traffic safety became more common. In 2018, crimes against safety on public roads accounted for 37.6 percent of the total share of criminal law convictions.

Malta had the lowest rate of road fatalities in the European Union in 2021. That year, 1,000 more people lost their lives on roads in the European Union, up by about five percent between 2020 and 2021.

Some 47,000 road traffic fatalities are projected to have occurred in the United States in 2021, which was the largest amount of fatalities recorded in the country since 2012. This fatality volume is estimated to dip in 2022, down to nearly 46,300. Motor vehicle crashes and drug overdoses are the leading causes of death among those under the age of 55 in the United States.

In 2021, more than 44,000 male drivers were involved in fatal crashes in U.S. road traffic, which accounted for 72.3 percent of the total, while female drivers were involved in about 15,100 fatal crashes. The number of drivers who were involved in fatal crashes has shown an increase of about 16.2 percent from 2016.

In 2020, 610 people were killed on roads in the Netherlands. Between 2006 and 2020, road traffic fatalities had seen a net decline of 25 percent, with the peak recorded at the beginning of the reporting period in 2006. The Dutch Government is dedicated to making its roads even safer in the future and aims to bring the number of road deaths down to below 500. The Netherlands ranked in the lower end of European countries most prone to road deaths. In 2020, the Benelux country had seen 31 incidents per one million inhabitants.

Perceived causes

According to a 2017 survey, close to half of Dutch residents believed that the most common cause of fatal accidents on motorways was inattention. By comparison, 27 percent saw drowsiness as a likely factor contributing to the number of road deaths.

Car stock

In contrast to the steady decrease in fatal accidents, the Netherlands had become home to a growing number of passenger cars. Following a continuous increase since 1990, there were over 8.5 million such vehicles registered in the country by 2018.

Between 2006 and 2020, road fatalities in Sweden had more than halved. The lowest figure of such fatalities was recorded in 2020 at 206. These figures stand in contrast to an increase in the volume of passenger road transport. In 2019, people travelled a combined 125.4 billion kilometers. Casualty figures also in decline

Much like road fatalities, the number of road traffic casualties declined over the past decade. A total of roughly 18,500 individuals had reportedly been injured in 2018, with figures 26 percent lower than eleven years prior. This was despite a slight increase in the past three years.

Denmark records highest fatality numbers

Among Scandinavian countries, Denmark recorded the greatest number of road traffic related fatalities, which amounted to 32 per million inhabitants. By comparison, fatality figures were lowest in Norway at 20 fatal accidents per million inhabitants.

In 2020, 227 fatalities were recorded on Swiss roads. Between 2006 and 2020, traffic-related deaths almost halved, with the lowest number seen in 2019. Switzerland was one of the safest countries in Europe for road users. Despite the Alp state being made up of several smaller roads that are tricky to traverse, road fatality prevalence was 26 incidences per million inhabitants.

Total road length

Switzerland’s roads had a total length of 71,558 kilometers. Of these, the secondary or regional roads made up the largest share, at nearly 25 percent. By comparison, motorways had a combined length of 1,462 kilometers.

Cars per inhabitants

The number of cars available in Switzerland grew consecutively between 1990 and 2018, although from 2005 onwards the increase rate slowed, indicating a saturated market. In 2018, there were 539 cars per 1,000 inhabitants.

There were 344 traffic fatalities recorded in Austria in 2020. The number of road related deaths has been steadily decreasing, thanks to increased efforts on a local, national and EU level. The highest figure was seen at the beginning of the reporting period in 2006 at 730 fatalities. In 2020, Austria ranked nineteenth in a list of highest number of traffic fatalities per million inhabitants in Europe.

Non-fatal road accidents

Figures for those non-fatally injured had initially decreased to 45,024 in 2011, before rising again in the following years. In 2018, there had been 46,525 people injured while on the road.

Car stock

In 2018, there were over 4.9 million registered passenger cars in the country. This was a growth of roughly 66 percent compared to 1990 and approximated a motorization rate of 562 cars per 1,000 inhabitants in the same year.

In 2023, more than 1.8 thousand individuals were killed in motor vehicle accidents in Poland. An overall decrease in the number of road deaths was observed within the period shown. The highest number of road fatalities in this timeframe occurred in 2007, with figures nearly twice as high as those reported in 2020. Car occupants killed most oftenCar occupants were those most commonly affected by traffic accidents. In 2020, 47 percent of those who had been killed on the road were car drivers or passengers. Also at high risk were pedestrians. Road fatality costs at 6.03bn PLNThe most recent evaluation of road accident related expenses found that fatalities had cost 6.85 billion Polish złoty in 2018. In total, road accidents came with a price tag of 37.48 billion Polish złoty.

In 2020, out of the 38,824 fatalities in general, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in 30 percent of the drivers involved in the fatal crashes was found to be higher than 0.08. About five percent had BAC between 0.01 to 0.07, however the remaining majority had BAC of 0.00 percent, with one percent (91 fatalities) of unknown.

In 2020, there were 93 recorded traffic fatalities in Norway. The Scandinavian country had seen the number of road deaths drop significantly in the last ten years and by 2020 reported 18 incidents per one million inhabitants. This was the lowest road fatality prevalence in Europe. The Norwegian Government follows the multi-national road safety plan “Vision Zero”, which seeks to see the number of fatalities and serious injuries reduced to zero. In its “National Plan of Action for Road Safety” the Government elaborated on its short-term goals of having a maximum of 350 such incidents by 2030.

Non-fatal accidents

In order to reach said goals, the country still has some way to go. Despite more than halving the number of road accidents, by 2019 there were still 4,358 people, who had been non-fatally injured on Norwegian roads.

Vehicle stock

In 2019, there were a total of 5.62 million vehicles registered in the country. Passenger cars accounted for the lion’s share of these at 2.8 million and were followed by trailers.

In 2023, the number of deaths caused by traffic accidents amounted to approximately 11,628 cases in Vietnam. This indicated a decrease from the previous year. From 2013 to 2021, the number of traffic deaths has gradually declined, then increased dramatically in 2022, with the number of deaths due to crashes double than that in 2021.