Car Accident Statistics

• 	Auto Accident Attorneys
  	Types of Accidents
  	Types of Drivers
  	Child Safety
  	Seatbelt Safety
  	Preventing Accidents
  	Statistics

  Approximately 33,963 people died in motor vehicle accidents nationwide in 2009, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The majority of these occured in urban areas and in non-intersection sections of the road.
• In 2008, about 3,500 teens in the United States aged 15 to 19 were killed and  more than 350,000 were treated in emergency departments for injuries suffered in motor-vehicle crashes, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
• In 2006, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 15 to 19 was almost two times that of their female counterparts, the CDC reports.
• According to NHTSA, about three in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some point in their lives.
• According to the National Safety Council, more than 2.5 million rear-end collisions are reported every year, making them the most common type of automobile accident.
• Approximately 11,773 people were killed in drunk driving crashes in 2008, according to the Century Council. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities account for 32 percent of all traffic fatalities
• More than 183,000 older adults were injured as occupants in motor vehicle crashes in 2008. This amounts to 500 older adults being injured in a crash every day, according to the CDC. And, there were 31 million licensed older drivers in 2007, which is a 19 percent increase from 1997.
• At least 10 percent of drivers are on handheld or hands free cell phones at any given hour of the day, according to the NHTSA.
• A study of dangerous driver behavior released in January 2007 by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. found that of 1,200 surveyed drivers, 73 percent talk on cell phones while driving. The same survey found that 19 percent of motorists say they text message while driving.
• Drivers using phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
• The Harvard Center for Risk Analysis calculated that 2,600 people die each year as a result of using cell phones while driving. They estimated that another 330,000 are injured.