Car Accident Statistics

Random car accident statistics:

• Car crashes are the leading cause of teenage deaths, ages 15-20, in the United States
• Teenagers are three times more likely to be involved in a fatal car accident than any other driver (an incredible statistic that underscores the need to raise the minimum driving age in the country, inconvenient as that may be)
• In 2008, elderly people caused 18 percent of all pedestrian fatalities and 15 percent of all car accident fatalities
• In good news, there were about 33,963 fatal car accidents in 2009, compared to the 37,261 fatal car accidents in 2008, showing a decrease of about 9 percent.
• Seatbelt usage is higher among women than men and it was lower when a person was driving alone versus when they were driving with passengers. (Another surprising car accident statistic.) Is this because a good brand of peer pressure pushes you to put on your seatbelt?)
• Seatbelts saved over 75,000 lives from 2004 to 2008
• Someone dies from auto accident injuries every 15 minutes.
• In the UK, 7 percent of drivers have either lost control or had an accident because of sneezing. (This is still negligence, by the way, no matter how you slice it.)
• In 2009, 650,000 teens under the age of 21 were involved in a car accident
• Car accidents are most likely to occur in the summertime because people are more likely to be drinking and driving
• The leading cause of car accidents is a distracted driver
• 60 percent of fatal teen car accidents are related to alcohol
• 73% of fatal car accident victims are men, making men two times more likely to die in a car accident
• 1,550 people die yearly because of drowsy driving and 71,000 are injured (I wonder how many of these are truck drivers driving long days)
• I’ve read this a thousand times and I still can’t believe it: the middle backseat is the safest place to ride in a car
• Most car accidents occur 1.4 miles away from the home
• There are approximately 6,000,000 car accidents in the United States every year.