Learn about the types of vehicles and victims involved in non-fatal car accidents, as well as what percentage of car crashes don’t involve any deaths.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), car crashes are a significant public health concern in the United States, as accidents are a leading cause of death that kill over 100 people each day.
To reduce the risk of crash, the CDC recommends motorists take the following precautions:
- Adults and older children should use a seat belt on every trip.
- Avoid driving when your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is over the legal limit.
- Avoid distracted driving, such as taking your eyes off the road, taking your hands off the wheel or taking your mind off driving.
This article will review some essential statistics published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) about non-fatal car accidents in 2018, which includes accidents that caused injuries and those that only caused property damage.
Notable Statistics:
- Approximately 99.5% of 6.734 million car crashes that occurred in 2018 were non-fatal.
- In 2018, an estimated 2,710,000 people suffered non-fatal injuries in car accidents.
- Over 90% of car accident victims injured in 2018 were passenger vehicle occupants.
- More than half of the vehicles involved in non-fatal car accidents were passenger cars, and nearly 40% were light trucks.
Car Accident Statistics in 2018
According to NHTSA, there were approximately 6,734,000 motor vehicle crashes in 2018. Of these auto accidents, there were 33,654 (0.5%) fatal crashes, 1,894,000 (28.1%) car crashes that caused injuries, and 4,807,000 (71.4%) property-damage-only accidents. This means that 99.5% of crashes were non-fatal.
A detailed breakdown of the traffic crash victims who suffered a non-fatal injury is included in the chart below.
| Type of Victim | Number Injured | Percent of Total Injured |
| Occupants | 2,491,000 | 91.9% |
| Drivers | 1,808,000 | 66.7% |
| Passengers | 681,000 | 25.1% |
| Unknown | 3,000 | 0.1% |
| Motorcyclists | 82,000 | 3.0% |
| Nonoccupants | 137,000 | 5.1% |
| Pedestrians | 75,000 | 2.8% |
| Bicyclists | 47,000 | 1.7% |
| Other/Unknown | 15,000 | 0.6% |
| Total | 2,710,000 | 100.0% |
As shown above, over 90% of the car accident victims injured in 2018 were passenger vehicle occupants, and one-third of the people injured were drivers. Vehicle passengers accounted for a quarter of the non-fatal injuries.
NHTSA also estimates that 84 people were injured in traffic accidents for every 100 million vehicle miles traveled, 912 were injured per 100,000 registered vehicles, and 1,191 were injured per 100,000 licensed drivers. For every 100,000 people in the population, 828 were injured in a car crash in 2018.
Types of Vehicles in Non-Fatal Accidents
According to the NHTSA’s 2018 statistics, over half of the vehicles involved in non-fatal car accidents were passenger cars, and nearly 40% were light trucks. The types of vehicles involved in non-fatal crashes are laid out in detail in the chart below.
| Vehicle Type | Non-Fatal Injury | Property Damage Only | Total Non-Fatal |
| Passenger Cars | 1,960,000 (56.2%) | 4,677,000 (55.0%) | 6,637,000 (55.3%) |
| Light Trucks | 1,315,000 (37.7%) | 3,335,000 (39.2%) | 4,650,000 (38.8%) |
| Large Trucks | 112,000 (3.2%) | 414,000 (4.9%) | 526,000 (4.4%) |
| Motorcycles | 79,000 (2.3%) | 25,000 (0.3%) | 104,000 (0.9%) |
| Buses | 15,000 (0.4%) | 50,000 (0.6%) | 65,000 (0.5%) |
| Other | 7,000 (0.2%) | 8,000 (0.1%) | 15,000 (0.1%) |
| Total | 3,488,000 | 8,509,000 | 11,997,000 |
Some accidents that caused serious injuries involved rollovers. The NHTSA defines a “rollover” as “any vehicle rotation of 90 degrees or more about any true longitudinal or lateral axis.” The non-fatal crash rates for each type of vehicle that involved rollovers are outlined in the following chart.
| Vehicle Type | Non-Fatal Injury Rollovers | Property Damage Only Rollovers | Total Non-Fatal Rollovers |
| Passenger Cars | 55,000 (2.8% of total non-fatal injury passenger car accidents) | 31,000 (0.7% of total property damage only passenger car accidents) | 86,000 (1.3% of total non-fatal passenger car accidents) |
| Light Trucks — Pickup | 29,000 (6.6%) | 21,000 (1.9%) | 50,000 (3.2%) |
| Light Trucks — Utility | 37,000 (5.2%) | 26,000 (1.5%) | 63,000 (2.5%) |
| Light Trucks — Van | 3,000 (2.1%) | 3,000 (0.6%) | 6,000 (1.0%) |
| Light Trucks — Other | 1,000 (10.1%) | < 500 (1.2%) | < 1,500 (Not available) |
| Large Trucks | 8,000 (6.8%) | 11,000 (2.7%) | 19,000 (3.6%) |
| Buses | < 500 (1.9%) | < 500 (0.3%) | < 1,000 (Not available) |
| Other/Unknown | 1,000 (14.0%) | 1,000 (6.9%) | 2,000 (13.3%) |
| Total | 134,000 (3.9%) | 93,000 (1.1%) | 227,000 (1.9%) |
Non-Fatal Injury Victims Demographics
Of the approximately 2.71 million people injured in non-fatal motor vehicle crashes in 2018, NHTSA estimates that 1,297,000 (47.9%) were male and 1,413,000 (52.1%) were female. This is a significant departure from the fatality rates, as 25,841 (70.7%) of the 36,560 traffic fatalities in 2018 were male, and only 10,676 (29.2%) were female.
The car accident injury rates are shown in the chart below by age group and sex.
| Age Group | Male Injury Victims | Female Injury Victims | Total Injury Victims |
| < 5 | 25,000 (50.0% of total age group; 1.9% of total males) | 25,000 (50.0% of total age group; 1.8% of total females) | 50,000 (1.8%) |
| 5-9 | 28,000 (43.8%% of total age group; 2.2% of total males) | 35,000 (54.7% of total age group; 2.5% of total females) | 64,000 (2.4%) |
| 10-15 | 46,000 (46.9% of total age group; 3.5% of total males) | 52,000 (53.1% of total age group; 3.7% of total females) | 98,000 (3.6%) |
| 16-20 | 137,000 (46.1% of total age group; 9.7% of total males) | 160,000 (53.9% of total age group; 11.3% of total females) | 297,000 (11.0%) |
| 21-24 | 126,000 (46.7% of total age group; 1.9% of total males) | 144,000 (53.3% of total age group; 10.2% of total females) | 270,000 (10.0%) |
| 25-34 | 274,000 (49.5% of total age group; 21.1% of total males) | 281,000 (50.7% of total age group; 19.9% of total females) | 554,000 (20.4%) |
| 35-44 | 197,000 (48.0% of total age group; 15.2% of total males) | 213,000 (52.0% of total age group; 15.1% of total females) | 410,000 (15.1%) |
| 45-54 | 180,000 (48.3% of total age group; 13.9% of total males) | 193,000 (51.7% of total age group; 13.7% of total females) | 373,000 (13.8%) |
| 55-64 | 154,000 (48.3% of total age group; 11.9% of total males) | 165,000 (51.7% of total age group; 11.7% of total females) | 319,000 (11.8%) |
| 65-74 | 87,000 (48.6% of total age group; 6.7% of total males) | 92,000 (51.4% of total age group; 6.5% of total females) | 179,000 (6.6%) |
| > 74 | 45,000 (46.4% of total age group; 3.5% of total males) | 52,000 (53.6% of total age group; 3.7% of total females) | 97,000 (3.6%) |
| Total | 1,297,000 (47.9%) | 1,413,000 (52.1%) | 2,710,000 |
If you or someone you love are one of the millions of people injured in non-fatal car accidents each year, you may be entitled to receive compensation for your injuries. Reach out to a personal injury attorney near you to schedule a free consultation.
