Transportation safety in the United States

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Transportation safety in the United States encompasses safety of transportation in the United States, including automobile crashes, airplane crashes, rail crashes, and other mass transit incidents, although the most fatalities are generated by road incidents annually killing 32,479 people in 2011 to over 42,000 people in 2022. The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles.^[3][4] For driving, the rate was 150 per 10 billion vehicle-miles: 750 times higher per mile than for flying in a commercial airplane.

There is a considerable and growing gap between the United States and other comparable countries in terms of roadway deaths, with the United States having higher death rates.^[5] In 2014, two different U.S. government estimated that there were 33,736 or 32,744 motor vehicle traffic deaths in 2014.^[6][7] The National Safety Council (NSC), a nonprofit safety advocacy group, estimates U.S. motor vehicle deaths in 2016 were 40,200, a 14% increase from its 2014 estimate.^[8] After decades of improvements in road safety for pedestrians, the pedestrian death rate in the United States has skyrocketed since 2009 while most comparable countries have experienced declining pedestrian death rates.^[5]

In 2020, fatalities increased to about 38,680 deaths, from about 36,000 in 2019, even with fewer drivers on the road and fewer miles traveled. The increase was attributed to more risky driving behavior, including speeding, failing to wear seat belts, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.^[9] 2021 and 2022 experienced even more deaths, having 42,939 and 42,795 motor vehicle fatalities, respectively.^[10]