Number of motor vehicle fatalities down slightly in 2018

WASHINGTON – An estimated 36,760 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year, about a 1% decrease from the year before, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Early Estimates of Motor Vehicle Fatalities in 2018.

To be included in the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, a crash must involve a motor vehicle travelling on a road and must result in the death of at least one person (occupant of a vehicle or a nonoccupant) within 30 days of the crash. The reporting system includes data from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The data used in the analysis comes from the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FastFARS, and Monthly Fatality Counts; and from the Federal Highway Administration’s vehicle miles travelled estimates.

The final report will be available later this year.