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Car accident statistics by vehicle type (2024)

The number of vehicles involved in fatal crashes has increased since 2013.

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By

Andrew HurstSenior Editor & Licensed Auto Insurance ExpertAndrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Edited by

Anna SwartzAnna SwartzSenior Managing EditorAnna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

Published|3 min read

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From 2013 to 2022 (the most recent 10-year time period for which data is available) there were a total of 526,135 vehicles involved in 344,451 fatal crashes in the U.S. Using data from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA), we analyzed which types of vehicles were in the most accidents.

Key takeaways

  • The total number of vehicles involved in fatal crashes went up by 34.1% from 2013 to 2022.

  • The number of fatal accidents involving SUVs and pickup trucks went up by nearly 62% during this period.

  • There was a 93% increase in the number of pickup trucks and SUVs involved in fatal crashes with pedestrians.

How vehicle type is categorized

We found how many vehicles of different types were involved in fatal crashes by analyzing data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), which is a database maintained by the NHTSA.

Here’s how FARS defines different vehicle types:

  • Passenger car: Motor vehicles used primarily for carrying passengers, including convertibles, sedans, and station wagons

  • Light Truck: Trucks of 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating or less, including pickups, vans, truck-based station wagons, and SUVs.

  • Motorcycle: A two- or three-wheeled motor vehicle designed to transport one or two people, including motor scooters, minibikes, and mopeds.

  • Large Truck: Trucks over 10,000 pounds gross vehicle weight rating, including single-unit trucks and truck tractors.

  • Other/Unknown: Consists of the following types of vehicles: large limousines (more than four side doors or stretched chassis, three-wheel automobile, van-based motorhome, light-truck-based motorhome (chassis mounted), large-truck-based motorhome, ATV (including dune/swamp buggy) and all-terrain cycle, snowmobile, farm equipment other than trucks, construction equipment other than trucks (including graders) other type vehicles (including go-cart, fork lift, city street sweeper.

  • Bus: Large motor vehicles used to carry more than ten passengers, including school buses, inter-city buses, and transit buses.

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Fatal car accidents by vehicle type

The total number of vehicles involved in fatal accidents increased by 34.1% from 2013 to 2022 from 45,101 to 60,501. During this time the number of licensed drivers on the roads increased by about 11%.

At the end of this 10-year period, there were 106.6% more SUVs involved in fatal crashes than at the start of it, the largest increase of any type of vehicle.

It’s even larger if you group SUVs and pickup trucks together: 9,044 more of these vehicles were involved in fatal crashes in 2022 than in 2013 — an increase of 62%.

A line graph showing the number of accidents from 2013 to 2022 by type of vehicle.

While the vast majority of vehicle crashes over this period involved passenger cars, the number of passenger cars involved in fatal crashes rose by just 11.7%.

Vehicle type

Total involved in fatal crashes

10-year change

Passenger Car

198,976

+11.7%

SUV

96,982

+106.6%

Pickup trucks

87,621

+22.4%

Motorcycle

54,219

+32.5%

Large Truck

47,445

+48.9%

Light Truck - Van

21,228

-3.8%

Other/Unknown

16,333

+84.3%

Bus

2,305

-24.5%

Light Truck - Other

1,026

-84.7%

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Sorted by the number of total crashes per vehicle.

Accidents by vehicle type in every state

In total, 37.8% of the vehicles involved in fatal crashes across the U.S. were passenger cars. But in Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, SUVs were involved in the highest number of fatal crashes.

Total number of fatal accidents

Vehicle type involved in the most accidents

Percent involved in a fatal accident

Alabama

12,777

Passenger car

39.3%

Alaska

959

SUV

25.3%

Arizona

13,970

Passenger car

34.4%

Arkansas

7,783

Passenger car

30.8%

California

52,803

Passenger car

44.3%

Colorado

8,704

Passenger car

30.5%

Connecticut

4,074

Passenger car

46.1%

Delaware

1,816

Passenger car

43.1%

District of Columbia

397

Passenger car

47.4%

Florida

45,138

Passenger car

40.5%

Georgia

21,706

Passenger car

39.2%

Hawaii

1,384

Passenger car

29.3%

Idaho

3,055

Passenger car

29.2%

Illinois

15,498

Passenger car

40.6%

Indiana

12,399

Passenger car

36.2%

Iowa

4,652

Passenger car

30.6%

Kansas

5,482

Passenger car

32.1%

Kentucky

10,521

Passenger car

37.5%

Louisiana

10,964

Passenger car

34.5%

Maine

2,039

Passenger car

33.4%

Maryland

7,581

Passenger car

44.9%

Massachusetts

4,947

Passenger car

44.1%

Michigan

14,880

Passenger car

36.9%

Minnesota

5,718

Passenger car

34.1%

Mississippi

8,973

Passenger car

38.9%

Missouri

12,788

Passenger car

37.3%

Montana

2,419

SUV

25.8%

Nebraska

3,257

Passenger car

30.8%

Nevada

4,711

Passenger car

37.6%

New Hampshire

1,592

Passenger car

39.9%

New Jersey

8,385

Passenger car

43.8%

New Mexico

5,228

Passenger car

30.4%

New York

14,476

Passenger car

39.6%

North Carolina

20,483

Passenger car

41.1%

North Dakota

1,550

SUV

26.3%

Ohio

16,714

Passenger car

39.7%

Oklahoma

9,522

Passenger car

30.6%

Oregon

6,424

Passenger car

34.5%

Pennsylvania

16,793

Passenger car

39.5%

Rhode Island

791

Passenger car

46.0%

South Carolina

13,882

Passenger car

38.5%

South Dakota

1,673

Passenger car

26.7%

Tennessee

15,718

Passenger car

38.5%

Texas

53,909

Passenger car

32.8%

Utah

3,950

Passenger car

35.2%

Vermont

834

Passenger car

38.2%

Virginia

11,448

Passenger car

40.4%

Washington

7,950

Passenger car

38.2%

West Virginia

3,769

Passenger car

30.7%

Wisconsin

8,064

Passenger car

36.8%

Wyoming

1,585

SUV

25.1%

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Pedestrian accidents by vehicle type

We found that 70,119 vehicles were involved in fatal crashes with pedestrians from 2013 to 2022. There were almost 59% more vehicles involved in crashes with pedestrians in 2022 than 10 years earlier.

The number of SUVs involved in fatal crashes with pedestrians grew by 142.8% over that period, the most of any type of car. Together 93% more SUVs and pickup trucks were involved in fatal crashes with pedestrians.

Vehicle type

Fatal crashes involving a pedestrian

Percent of this vehicle’s fatal crashes that involved a pedestrian

10-year change

Passenger Car

28,317

14.2%

+33.7%

SUVs

14,395

14.8%

+142.8%

Pickup trucks

11,166

12.7%

+43.6%

Other/Unknown

6,929

42.4%

+115.7%

Large Truck

4,508

9.5%

+50.8%

Light Truck - Van

3,449

16.2%

-0.9%

Bus

585

25.4%

-33.3%

Motorcycle

519

1.0%

+57.1%

Light Truck - Other

251

24.5%

-90.5%

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High-speed crashes by vehicle type

By percentage, most of the vehicles involved in speed-related fatal crashes were motorcycles. Of the 54,219 fatal crashes involving motorcycles, one third of those were speed-related.

Fatal car accidents involving SUVs were less likely to be speed-related fatal crashes (just 15.4%), but the number of these vehicles involved in fatal crashes was still nearly 75% higher in 2022 than it was 10 years earlier.

Vehicle type

Fatal crashes involving speeding

Percent of this vehicle’s fatal crashes that involved speeding

10-year change

Passenger Car

40,283

20.2%

+15.8%

Motorcycle

18,066

33.3%

+34.3%

SUVs

14,977

15.4%

+73.4%

Pickup trucks

14,209

16.2%

+2.9%

Large Truck

3,377

7.1%

+16.7%

Other/Unknown

2,182

13.4%

+34.3%

Light Truck - Van

2,148

10.1%

-22.4%

Light Truck - Other

135

13.2%

-85.7%

Bus

66

2.9%

-60.0%

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Drunk-driving accidents by vehicle type

From 2013 to 2022 there were over 150,000 vehicles in fatal crashes involving a drunk driver.

Vehicle type

Fatal crashes involving a drunk driver

Percent of this vehicle’s fatal crashes that involved a drunk driver

10-year change

Passenger Car

60,888

30.6%

+26.8%

SUVs

27,369

28.2%

+119.8%

Pickup trucks

26,290

30.0%

+30.2%

Motorcycle

17,800

32.8%

+43.7%

Large Truck

7,250

15.3%

+93.3%

Other/Unknown

6,001

36.7%

+76.5%

Light Truck - Van

4,574

21.5%

+8.7%

Bus

398

17.3%

-22.0%

Light Truck - Other

262

25.5%

-82.6%

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Vehicles involved in rollover crashes

Just 15.4% of fatal crashes involved rollovers — although that was 12.5% more than in 2013. Out of all the fatal accidents involving pickup trucks and SUVs, 22.7% of them were rollovers, the highest percentage of any type of car. But there was very little change in the number of pickups involved in rollovers during the 10-year period our statistics cover.

Vehicle type

Total involved in rollover crashes

Percent of this type of vehicle involved in rollover crashes

10-year change

Pickup trucks

19,928

22.7%

+0.5%

SUVs

21,977

22.7%

+38.0%

Light Truck - Other

213

20.8%

-76.9%

Other/Unknown

3,125

19.1%

+57.9%

Light Truck - Van

2,871

13.5%

-22.2%

Passenger Car

26,367

13.3%

-3.2%

Large Truck

6,057

12.8%

+44.0%

Bus

92

4.0%

-64.3%

Motorcycle

185

0.3%

+425.0%

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How vehicle type affects your car insurance

The type of vehicle you drive can affect your car insurance rates. If you have a new-model car with a lot of high-tech parts, you may pay more for car insurance than someone with a basic or older car, since it will cost more to fix your vehicle if it’s damaged (this is assuming you have full-coverage car insurance).

Size can affect your insurance rates, too. Motorcycle insurance costs less than insurance for other vehicles because they’re less likely to cause a lot of property damage in a crash.

→ Read more about the cost of car insurance by make and model

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We don't sell your information to third parties.

Author

Andrew Hurst is a senior editor at Policygenius who has spent his entire career writing about life, disability, home, auto, and health insurance. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, Mic, Insurance Business Magazine, and Property Casualty 360.

Editor

Anna Swartz is a senior managing editor who specializes in home, auto, renters, and disability insurance at Policygenius. Previously, she was a senior staff writer at Mic and a writer at The Dodo. Her work has also appeared in Salon, HuffPost, MSN, AOL, and Heeb.

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