How Many People Are Killed In Car Accidents Each Year?

Posted on July 13, 2016 in Auto Accidents,Our Blog,Wrongful Death Lawsuit

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s data [1] from 2015, the most current year for which data is available, there were 35,092 car accident deaths in the United States that year. That puts the national total at 10.9 deaths per 100,000 people.

How does Oregon stack up?

Compared to the national total of fatal crashes, Oregon is slightly higher. Oregon’s deaths per 100,000 population is 11.1. With a population of 4,028,977 in 2015, 412 total crashes and 447 total traffic deaths, that’s 11.1 traffic fatalities for every 100,000 people.

The state that most closely resembles Oregon in terms of traffic deaths per 100,000 people is Nevada. In 2015, with a population of 2,890,845, Nevada experienced 325 fatal crashes, putting the deaths per 100,000 population at 11.2.

Who are the victims of fatal car accidents?

The IIHS also collects data on who was killed in car crashes every year. This is measured by percentage of car occupants versus pickup, SUV, or large truck occupants. The IIHS also breaks down fatalities by total number of motorcyclists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

The data from 2015 indicates that fatal car accident victims were:

  • 37% car occupants
  • 26% pickup and SUV occupants
  • 15% pedestrians
  • 13% motorcyclists
  • 5% unknown
  • 2% large truck occupants
  • 2% bicyclists

Those national percentages are very close to the percentages in Oregon.

  • 161 victims of fatal crashes were car occupants – 36%
  • 120 victims of fatal crashes were pickup and SUV occupants – 27%
  • 69 victims of fatal crashes were pedestrians – 15%
  • 59 victims of fatal crashes were motorcyclists – 13%
  • Unknown – 5%
  • 8 victims of fatal crashes were large truck occupants – 2%
  • 8 victims of fatal crashes were bicyclists – 2%

Want to learn more?

Resources

[1] http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview