How Many People Die From Car Accidents Each Year in the U.S. and Texas?

About 42,789 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2024, according to the National Safety Council. That means more than 117 people lost their lives on U.S. roads each day. In Texas, 3,896 traffic deaths were reported in 2021, one of the highest totals nationwide. Globally, road crashes kill about 1.19 million people every year. 

How Many People Die From Car Accidents Each Year in the United States?

About 42,789 people died in motor vehicle crashes across the U.S. in 2024, and preliminary data shows the number kept falling in 2025.

According to Injury Facts by the National Safety Council:

• 42,789 people died in motor-vehicle crashes in 2024, down from 44,762 in 2023. This marked the third consecutive annual decrease.
• Preliminary 2025 estimates show 37,810 deaths, a 12% decline from 2024.
• In 2022, 42,514 people died in traffic crashes, per NHTSA’s final FARS data referenced by NSC.

According to Fatality Facts 2023 by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

• Passenger vehicle occupants accounted for 59% of all crash deaths, the largest group by far.
• Pedestrians made up 18% of deaths, and U.S. pedestrian death rates have climbed 50% over the past decade, according to CDC data.
• Motorcyclists represented 15% of deaths, even though motorcycles make up only 3% of registered vehicles.
• Bicyclists were 3% and large truck occupants 2%, with bicyclist deaths up 86% since their 2010 low point.

How Many People Die From Car Accidents Each Day?

About 117 people die in motor vehicle crashes every day in the United States, based on the 42,789 deaths recorded by NSC in 2024. That works out to roughly one death every 12 minutes, around the clock, every single day of the year.

Worldwide the numbers are far higher. The World Health Organization estimates that road traffic crashes kill more than 3,200 people per day globally, or two deaths every minute.

In Texas, the daily toll comes out to about 11 people killed on the road every day, based on the 4,150 fatalities TxDOT recorded in 2024. October was the deadliest month, with 391 deaths reported.

How Many People Die From Car Accidents Each Year in Texas?

4,150 people were killed in traffic crashes on Texas roads in 2024, a 3.29% decrease from the 4,291 deaths recorded in 2023. That makes Texas one of the deadliest states in the country for drivers, passengers, and pedestrians.

The Texas Department of Transportation tracks every reportable crash through its Crash Records Information System (CRIS). According to the TxDOT 2024 Crash Facts report:

• 4,150 people died on Texas roads in 2024, with a reportable crash occurring every 57 seconds throughout the year.
• 18,218 people sustained serious injuries, and 251,977 were injured in total across all reportable crashes.
• 50.12% of all traffic deaths happened in rural areas, accounting for 2,080 fatalities.
• October was the deadliest month with 391 deaths, and Friday May 24 and Sunday October 27 tied as the single deadliest days with 27 fatalities each.
• 45.34% of vehicle occupants killed were not wearing seat belts, where restraint use was known.

Fatality and injury numbers vary widely across cities and counties. The Texas car accident statistics page breaks down crash data by location for anyone tracking a specific area. 

The drop from 4,291 in 2023 to 4,150 in 2024 is the first meaningful improvement Texas has seen in years. Even so, that’s still over 11 people killed on Texas roads every day, and one Texan family losing someone to a crash every two hours.

Which States Have the Highest and Lowest Car Accident Death Rates?

Mississippi had the highest motor vehicle fatality rate in the country in 2023, with 24.9 deaths per 100,000 people, while Massachusetts had the lowest at 4.9 deaths per 100,000. The U.S. average was 12.2 deaths per 100,000, according to IIHS Fatality Facts 2023.

The gap between the deadliest and safest states is more than fivefold. That difference comes down to a mix of factors: rural road density, average travel speeds, seatbelt enforcement, drunk driving laws, emergency response times, and population distribution.

According to the Fatality Facts 2023 state-by-state report by IIHS and NHTSA’s State Traffic Data, the states at both ends of the spectrum are:

Highest fatality rates per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (2023):

• Mississippi: 1.79
• Arizona: 1.73
• South Carolina: 1.72

Lowest fatality rates per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (2023):

• Massachusetts: 0.56
• Minnesota: 0.70
• New Jersey: among the three lowest

Where does Texas fit? Texas recorded 4,291 deaths in 2023, with a fatality rate of 1.42 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, according to the TxDOT 2023 Crash Facts report. That puts Texas above the national rate of 1.26 but well below the highest-rate states. 

A few patterns stand out across the deadliest states:

• Rural roads carry more risk. Vermont (87%), North Dakota (85%), South Dakota (81%), and Maine (80%) had the highest share of crash deaths on rural roads in 2023. Rural crashes happen at higher speeds, and emergency response takes longer.
• Seat belt use varies widely. Hawaii reported the highest observed seat belt use at 98%, while Virginia had the lowest at 73%.
• Single-vehicle crashes dominate. Nationwide, 52% of all crash deaths in 2023 happened in single-vehicle crashes, according to IIHS.

If you were injured in a crash on a Texas highway, knowing how the state compares helps you understand the bigger picture, but the legal questions come down to what happened in your specific crash.

What Are the Leading Causes of Fatal Car Accidents?

Speeding, drunk driving, and distracted driving are the three biggest causes of fatal car accidents in the United States. Together they accounted for nearly half of all crash deaths in 2023, with most fatal crashes involving at least one of these factors.

According to NHTSA’s 2023 Overview of Motor Vehicle Traffic Crashes:

• Speeding killed 11,775 people in 2023, about 29% of all crash deaths. Speeding has been a factor in more than a quarter of crash deaths every year over the past decade.
• Alcohol-impaired driving accounted for roughly 30% of all traffic fatalities in 2023, a 7.6% decrease from 2022. A driver is legally impaired at a BAC of 0.08% or higher.
• Distracted driving was a factor in 3,308 deaths in 2022, according to NHTSA’s distracted driving data. NHTSA notes that distraction figures are likely underestimates because phone use is hard to verify after the fact. 

In Texas, the same three causes dominate. According to TxDOT 2024 Crash Facts:

• 1,053 people were killed by alcohol-impaired drivers, 25.37% of all Texas traffic deaths in 2024.
• 380 people died in distracted driving crashes, a 5.71% decrease from 2023.
• Speeding and failure to control speed remain leading factors in single-vehicle, run-off-the-road crashes, which caused 1,353 deaths (32.60% of all Texas traffic fatalities in 2024).

A few other patterns matter when you’re trying to understand how fatal crashes happen:

• Single-vehicle crashes account for 52% of all U.S. crash deaths. These are run-off-road, rollover, or fixed-object crashes, often tied to speed or impairment.
• Failure to wear seat belts is a constant. In Texas, 45.34% of vehicle occupants killed in 2024 were not wearing one.

The common causes of fatal car accidents in Texas follow the same national pattern, but state law shapes how liability gets proved. If alcohol was involved in your crash, a Texas drunk driving accident lawyer can pull the criminal record, BAC results, and bar receipts that build a civil case. 

Who Is Most at Risk of Dying in a Car Accident?

Young men between 20 and 24 have the highest car accident death rate of any group in the United States, while elderly drivers, motorcyclists, and pedestrians also face above-average risk. Crash deaths vary widely by age, sex, vehicle type, and location.

According to IIHS Fatality Facts 2023:

• Males ages 20 to 24 have the highest crash death rate of any age group, while females ages 12 and younger have the lowest.
• At every age, males have higher per capita crash death rates than females. This gap has held steady since federal tracking began in 1975.
• People 70 and older had 5,502 crash deaths in 2023, a 46% increase since 1975. The per-capita rate for older adults has fallen 47% over that same period as cars and roads got safer.
• Drivers 85 and older have the highest fatal crash involvement rate per mile driven, based on the National Household Travel Survey.

Vehicle type also shapes who dies:

• Motorcyclists made up 15% of all crash deaths in 2023, even though motorcycles account for only 3% of registered vehicles.
• Pedestrians made up 18% of crash deaths and bicyclists 3%, with both categories rising over the past decade.

Urban areas saw 23,921 traffic deaths in 2023 compared to 16,656 in rural areas, according to NHTSA. Rural roads still carry a higher death rate per mile traveled (1.65 vs 1.07), driven by higher speeds and slower emergency response. 

Risk shows up in injury patterns too. The types of car accident injuries people survive depend heavily on vehicle size, seat belt use, airbag deployment, and the speed of the crash.

How Have Car Accident Deaths Trended Over Time?

Car accident deaths in the U.S. dropped to 42,789 in 2024 and continued falling into 2025, ending a four-year stretch of increases that peaked in 2021. The death rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled has also fallen steadily, from 1.33 in 2022 to 1.20 in 2024, according to NHTSA. 

Key milestones in U.S. traffic fatality history, per NHTSA FARS and NSC Injury Facts:

• 2020: 38,824 deaths, when traffic volume dropped sharply but risky driving rose.
• 2021: 43,230 deaths, capping a 20% jump in two years driven by emptier roads, higher speeds, and a drop in seat belt use, according to NSC.
• 2022: 42,514 deaths, the first decline after the 2020-2021 spike.
• 2023: 40,901 deaths per NHTSA, down 4.3% from 2022.
• 2024: 42,789 deaths per NCHS, the third straight annual decline. NHTSA’s narrower count, which excludes private roads, was 39,345.
• 2025 (preliminary): 37,810 deaths per NSC, a 12% drop and the largest single-year decline in recent memory.

The mileage death rate has fallen even faster. The U.S. averaged 1.26 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in 2023, with preliminary 2024 data showing a further drop to 1.20.

Vehicle technology drove most of the gains: seat belts, airbags, crumple zones, antilock brakes, electronic stability control, and stricter DUI laws all contributed to fewer deaths per mile.

What Happens Legally When Someone Dies in a Car Accident in Texas?

When someone dies in a Texas car accident caused by another driver’s negligence, surviving family members can file a wrongful death claim under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 71. The claim recovers compensation for the family’s losses, not the deceased’s, and it runs separately from any criminal case against the at-fault driver.

Under TX CPRC § 71.004, only specific family members can file:

• The surviving spouse
• Children of the deceased (biological or legally adopted)
• The deceased’s parents (natural or adoptive)

Siblings, grandparents, stepparents, and stepchildren cannot file a wrongful death claim in Texas, even if they were close to the person who died. The estate can also bring a separate survival action under § 71.021 to recover for pain, suffering, and medical bills the deceased experienced before dying.

The statute of limitations under TX CPRC § 16.003(b) is two years from the date of death, not the date of the crash. The discovery rule does not apply to wrongful death or survival actions in Texas. Limited tolling exceptions exist for minor children and cases involving concealment of the wrongful act.

Compensation in a Texas wrongful death claim can cover:

• Lost earning capacity the deceased would have provided
• Lost household services, care, and support
• Mental anguish and emotional pain of surviving family
• Lost companionship and society
• Funeral and burial expenses
• Punitive damages under § 71.009 if the at-fault driver acted with gross negligence (such as DUI or street racing)

Evidence the Texas personal injury laws recognize as critical includes the police report, toxicology results, phone records, dashcam or surveillance footage, witness statements, and accident reconstruction. Much of that evidence depends on what to do after a car accident during the first 48 hours.

Most wrongful death cases settle before trial. The defendant’s insurance company, not the driver personally, usually pays.

When to Contact a Texas Car Accident Lawyer After a Fatal Crash

Contact a Texas car accident lawyer as soon as possible after a fatal crash, ideally within the first week. The two-year statute of limitations sounds long, but the evidence that wins your case starts disappearing in days, not months.

Most evidence disappears within the first 48 hours:

• Dashcam and surveillance footage often gets overwritten on a 7 to 30 day loop, depending on the system.
• Witness memories fade fast and contact information gets lost.
• Phone records and toxicology reports require legal preservation requests that take time to set up.
• Insurance adjusters move quickly to take recorded statements from grieving family members before they have representation.

Experienced personal injury lawyers step in immediately to send preservation letters, file open records requests with police, and coordinate independent accident reconstruction. Without that, key evidence can be gone before the family even decides to file.

We’ve handled wrongful death and serious injury cases across Texas for years. When you reach out, we’ll listen to what happened, explain what your claim could be worth, and walk you through the next steps. There’s no fee unless we win your case, and the first conversation costs you nothing.

Contact us for a free consultation. The sooner we start, the more evidence we can protect.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many people die in car accidents in the U.S. each year?

About 42,789 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2024, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Preliminary 2025 estimates from NSC show 37,810 deaths, a 12% decline and the third consecutive annual decrease.

What is the leading cause of fatal car accidents?

Speeding is the top contributing factor in fatal U.S. car accidents, involved in 11,775 deaths in 2023 (29% of all crash fatalities). Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for roughly 30%, and distracted driving contributed to 3,308 deaths in 2022.

Who can file a wrongful death claim in Texas?

Only the surviving spouse, children (biological or legally adopted), and parents of the deceased can file a wrongful death claim under Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 71.004. Siblings, grandparents, and other relatives cannot.

How long do I have to file a wrongful death claim in Texas?

Two years from the date of death, per Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003(b). The clock starts on the date the person died, not the date of the crash. Limited tolling exceptions exist for minor children.

¿Necesito un abogado si mi familiar murió en un accidente de auto en Texas?

Sí. En Thompson Law te ayudamos a recuperar la compensación que tu familia merece bajo la ley de Texas. No pagas a menos que ganemos tu caso. Contáctanos para una consulta gratuita.