An official website of the United States government.
Early Estimate of Motor Vehicle Traffic Fatalities in 2023
A statistical projection of traffic fatalities for 2023 shows an estimated 40,990 people died in motor vehicle traffic crashes, a decrease of about 3.6 percent as compared to 42,514 fatalities reported to have occurred in 2022. The fourth quarter of 2023 represents the seventh consecutive quarterly decline in fatalities beginning with the second quarter of 2022. Preliminary data reported by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) show that vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in 2023 increased by about 67.5 billion miles, or about a 2.1-percent increase. Also shown in Table 1 are the fatality rates per 100 million VMT, by quarter. The fatality rate for 2023 decreased to 1.26 fatalities per 100 million VMT, down from the reported rate of 1.33 fatalities per 100 million VMT in 2022. For the NHTSA Regional differences, 8 of 10 Regions are estimated to have decreases in fatalities, and 9 of 10 regions are estimated to have decreases in fatality rate per 100 million VMT in 2023 as compared to 2022. Also, 35 States are projected to have experienced decreases in fatalities. The fatality counts for 2022 and 2023 and the ensuing percentage change from 2022 to 2023 will be further revised as the FARS final file for 2022 and the annual report file for 2023 are available next year.
Read the full report here.