Fatality rate per 100,000 U.S. licensed drivers

Fatality rate per 100,000 licensed drivers in the U.S. from 1990 to 2020

Characteristic	Fatalities per 100,000 licensed drivers
2020	17.01
2019	15.79
2018	16.19
2017	16.63
2016	17.05
2015	16.27
2014	15.29
2013	15.5
2012	15.95
2011	15.33
2010	15.71
2009	16.16
2008	17.96
2007	20.05
2006	21.06
2005	21.7
2004	21.54
2003	21.86
2002	22.1
2001	22.06
2000	22
1999	22.29
1998	22.45
1997	22.99
1996	23.43
1995	23.68
1994	23.21
1993	23.19
1992	22.67
1991	24.56
1990	26.7

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Release date

2022

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

1990 to 2020

Supplementary notes

Some states include restricted driver licenses and graduated driver licenses in their licensed driver counts.

Citation formats

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.