Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?

Much safer than in 1980, though not safer than in the early 2010s. In 2024 there were 1.19 deaths for every 100 million miles driven, about a third of the 1980 rate of 3.35. The rate reached a low of 1.08 in 2014, jumped to 1.34 in 2020, when people drove less but deaths rose, and has fallen every year since 2021. Miles driven are the Federal Highway Administration's estimates.

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Key facts

Measure: Deaths per 100 million vehicle miles. Written from the data below.

  • The latest figure, for 2024, is 1.19.
  • That is down 64% from 3.35 in 1980.
  • The highest was 3.35 in 1980.
  • The lowest was 1.08 in 2014.

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How to read this chart

Each point is the number of people killed in traffic crashes for every 100 million miles Americans drove that year. Dividing by miles driven turns a count into a rate, so years when people drove more or less can be compared fairly.

Questions to discuss

  1. About what fraction of the 1980 rate is the rate in the latest year?
  2. In 2020 people drove less, but the rate went up. What could explain that?
  3. Why is deaths per mile a fairer way to compare years than the total number of deaths?

Source and date

Source
NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2)
License
Public domain (U.S. government work)
Data as of
Published

Citation

Chartly. “Are U.S. roads getting safer per mile driven?” Chart. Data: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and FHWA Highway Statistics (table VM-2), https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars (data as of December 31, 2024). https://chart.ly/charts/traffic-deaths-per-mile-driven (accessed October 15, 2026).

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The data

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The file has the numbers in this table, with the source, license and date. Please credit the source and Chartly.

Year Deaths per 100 million vehicle miles
1980 3.35
1981 3.17
1982 2.76
1983 2.58
1984 2.57
1985 2.47
1986 2.51
1987 2.41
1988 2.32
1989 2.17
1990 2.08
1991 1.91
1992 1.75
1993 1.75
1994 1.73
1995 1.73
1996 1.69
1997 1.65
1998 1.58
1999 1.55
2000 1.53
2001 1.51
2002 1.51
2003 1.48
2004 1.44
2005 1.46
2006 1.42
2007 1.36
2008 1.26
2009 1.15
2010 1.11
2011 1.1
2012 1.14
2013 1.1
2014 1.08
2015 1.15
2016 1.19
2017 1.17
2018 1.14
2019 1.11
2020 1.34
2021 1.38
2022 1.34
2023 1.26
2024 1.19

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