Fatality Facts 2024Older people

Overview

People ages 70 and older are less likely to be licensed to drive compared with younger people, and drivers 70 and older also drive fewer miles. However, older drivers are keeping their licenses longer and driving more miles than in the past.

Per mile traveled, fatal crash rates increase noticeably starting at age 70-74 and are highest among drivers 85 and older. The increased fatal crash risk among older drivers is largely due to their increased susceptibility to injuries, particularly to the chest, and medical complications, rather than an increased tendency to get into crashes (Cicchino, 2015).

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

Posted June 2026.

Trends

A total of 5,679 people ages 70 and older died in motor vehicle crashes in 2024. This is a 50% increase since 1975. Though deaths are increasing, the rate of fatalities per capita among older people has decreased 47% since 1975.

Motor vehicle crash deaths and deaths per 100,000 people 70 and older, 1975-2024

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people 70 years and older, 1975-2024
Year	Population	Deaths	Rate
1975	14,563,945	3,775	25.9
1976	14,960,120	3,896	26.0
1977	15,401,249	3,859	25.1
1978	15,876,541	3,824	24.1
1979	16,388,617	3,772	23.0
1980	16,897,977	3,861	22.8
1981	17,322,714	3,871	22.3
1982	17,783,888	3,655	20.6
1983	18,233,751	3,734	20.5
1984	18,662,938	4,052	21.7
1985	19,072,785	4,206	22.1
1986	19,463,480	4,445	22.8
1987	19,890,817	4,555	22.9
1988	20,302,280	4,925	24.3
1989	20,719,397	4,943	23.9
1990	21,164,283	4,844	22.9
1991	21,751,897	4,843	22.3
1992	22,321,217	4,901	22.0
1993	22,800,673	5,221	22.9
1994	23,243,845	5,425	23.3
1995	23,693,757	5,509	23.3
1996	24,056,323	5,578	23.2
1997	24,408,817	5,872	24.1
1998	24,793,551	5,798	23.4
1999	25,092,805	5,657	22.5
2000	25,559,879	5,379	21.0
2001	25,797,467	5,425	21.0
2002	26,005,326	5,332	20.5
2003	26,200,946	5,363	20.5
2004	26,337,518	5,106	19.4
2005	26,658,669	5,047	18.9
2006	26,884,798	4,636	17.2
2007	27,135,517	4,631	17.1
2008	27,521,034	4,291	15.6
2009	27,786,270	3,995	14.4
2010	27,957,657	4,171	14.9
2011	28,472,279	4,071	14.3
2012	29,152,093	4,113	14.1
2013	30,040,362	4,150	13.8
2014	30,864,009	4,206	13.6
2015	31,624,778	4,427	14.0
2016	32,406,486	4,848	15.0
2017	33,964,043	5,037	14.8
2018	35,290,306	5,026	14.2
2019	36,592,368	5,232	14.3
2020	37,785,698	4,593	12.2
2021	37,453,633	5,245	14.0
2022	39,163,430	5,658	14.4
2023	40,097,633	5,521	13.8
2024	41,690,447	5,679	13.6

Seventy percent of people 70 and older killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2024 were passenger vehicle occupants, and 18% were pedestrians.

Motor vehicle crash deaths among people 70 and older, 1975-2024
Year	Passenger vehicle occupant deaths		Pedestrian deaths		Motorcyclist deaths		Other motor vehicle deaths		All motor vehicle deaths
Year	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number
1975	2,325	62	1,348	36	5	<1	97	3	3,775
1976	2,480	64	1,291	33	9	<1	116	3	3,896
1977	2,356	61	1,383	36	14	<1	106	3	3,859
1978	2,508	66	1,214	32	16	<1	86	2	3,824
1979	2,393	63	1,277	34	16	<1	86	2	3,772
1980	2,393	62	1,344	35	21	1	103	3	3,861
1981	2,490	64	1,278	33	22	1	81	2	3,871
1982	2,425	66	1,124	31	16	<1	90	2	3,655
1983	2,542	68	1,081	29	29	1	82	2	3,734
1984	2,756	68	1,164	29	32	1	100	2	4,052
1985	2,935	70	1,170	28	17	<1	84	2	4,206
1986	3,166	71	1,157	26	18	<1	104	2	4,445
1987	3,273	72	1,160	25	23	1	99	2	4,555
1988	3,533	72	1,271	26	29	1	92	2	4,925
1989	3,651	74	1,180	24	14	<1	98	2	4,943
1990	3,512	73	1,195	25	26	1	111	2	4,844
1991	3,680	76	1,044	22	22	<1	97	2	4,843
1992	3,800	78	997	20	18	<1	86	2	4,901
1993	4,081	78	1,012	19	30	1	98	2	5,221
1994	4,296	79	1,021	19	25	<1	83	2	5,425
1995	4,371	79	1,008	18	16	<1	114	2	5,509
1996	4,492	81	951	17	24	<1	111	2	5,578
1997	4,759	81	931	16	27	<1	155	3	5,872
1998	4,689	81	965	17	28	<1	116	2	5,798
1999	4,593	81	885	16	30	1	149	3	5,657
2000	4,414	82	807	15	42	1	116	2	5,379
2001	4,393	81	878	16	42	1	112	2	5,425
2002	4,293	81	845	16	50	1	144	3	5,332
2003	4,383	82	777	14	56	1	147	3	5,363
2004	4,119	81	763	15	48	1	176	3	5,106
2005	4,026	80	777	15	79	2	165	3	5,047
2006	3,693	80	707	15	77	2	159	3	4,636
2007	3,653	79	726	16	89	2	163	4	4,631
2008	3,391	79	603	14	128	3	169	4	4,291
2009	3,188	80	578	14	92	2	137	3	3,995
2010	3,230	77	628	15	137	3	176	4	4,171
2011	3,101	76	637	16	147	4	186	5	4,071
2012	3,069	75	707	17	150	4	187	5	4,113
2013	3,108	75	666	16	177	4	199	5	4,150
2014	3,127	74	729	17	139	3	211	5	4,206
2015	3,339	75	719	16	164	4	205	5	4,427
2016	3,569	74	822	17	207	4	250	5	4,848
2017	3,728	74	821	16	232	5	256	5	5,037
2018	3,638	72	911	18	212	4	265	5	5,026
2019	3,787	72	888	17	251	5	306	6	5,232
2020	3,234	70	777	17	268	6	314	7	4,593
2021	3,756	72	859	16	307	6	323	6	5,245
2022	3,976	70	1,009	18	312	6	361	6	5,658
2023	3,884	70	1,000	18	296	5	341	6	5,521
2024	3,948	70	1,008	18	326	6	397	7	5,679

In 2024, 57% of the deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers 70 and older were the older drivers themselves, and 13% were their passengers. Thirty percent of deaths were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians. In contrast, in crashes involving at least one passenger vehicle driver younger than 30, 37% of the deaths were the drivers younger than 30, 17% were their passengers, and 46% were occupants of other vehicles or motorcyclists, bicyclists or pedestrians.

Deaths in crashes involving passenger vehicle drivers younger than 30, ages 30-69, and 70 and older, by type of road user, 2024
	Deaths involving at least one driver younger than 30		Deaths involving at least one driver age 30-69		Deaths involving at least one driver 70 or older
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Drivers	4,545	37	9,699	45	3,001	57
Passengers	2,068	17	2,554	12	714	13
Deaths of other passenger vehicle occupants	2,777	22	3,181	15	618	12
Motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians	3,006	24	6,239	29	964	18
Total*	12,497	100	21,875	100	5,322	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Population and mileage rates

By age group, 2024 motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people begin increasing for males at ages 75-79 and females at age 70-74. For ages 16 and older, death rates were substantially higher for males than for females.

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2024

Motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2024
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<16	32,756,132	690	2.1	31,305,703	541	1.7	64,061,835	1,235	1.9
16-19	9,227,470	1,813	19.6	8,784,660	640	7.3	18,012,130	2,459	13.7
20-24	11,451,815	3,002	26.2	10,970,121	956	8.7	22,421,936	3,963	17.7
25-29	11,390,736	2,541	22.3	11,069,140	843	7.6	22,459,876	3,386	15.1
30-34	12,127,715	2,664	22.0	11,866,273	866	7.3	23,993,988	3,535	14.7
35-39	11,702,213	2,438	20.8	11,467,859	814	7.1	23,170,072	3,258	14.1
40-44	11,253,735	2,224	19.8	11,115,417	768	6.9	22,369,152	2,994	13.4
45-49	10,129,805	1,782	17.6	10,164,244	624	6.1	20,294,049	2,408	11.9
50-54	10,192,640	1,914	18.8	10,293,667	640	6.2	20,486,307	2,555	12.5
55-59	10,051,985	1,983	19.7	10,307,943	619	6.0	20,359,928	2,609	12.8
60-64	10,363,023	1,988	19.2	10,938,774	646	5.9	21,301,797	2,637	12.4
65-69	9,297,585	1,692	18.2	10,191,886	646	6.3	19,489,471	2,340	12.0
70-74	7,402,084	1,170	15.8	8,553,407	616	7.2	15,955,491	1,788	11.2
75-79	5,435,868	1,022	18.8	6,557,458	583	8.9	11,993,326	1,608	13.4
80-84	3,141,063	694	22.1	4,165,424	475	11.4	7,306,487	1,169	16.0
≥85	2,414,013	659	27.3	4,021,130	452	11.2	6,435,143	1,114	17.3
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Based on miles traveled data from the National Household Travel Survey, the rate of passenger vehicle driver fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled in 2022 begins to increase at ages 70-74. Drivers 85 and older had the highest rate of fatal crash involvement during that period.

Passenger vehicle fatal crash involvements per 100 million miles traveled by driver age, 2022

Passenger vehicle fatal crash rates per 100 million miles traveled, by driver age, 2022
Age	Crash involvements	Miles	Rate
16-19	3,202	42,732,233,923	7.5
20-24	5,455	99,749,493,128	5.5
25-29	4,992	103,773,689,227	4.8
30-34	4,817	212,529,186,108	2.3
35-39	4,160	157,630,735,790	2.6
40-44	3,626	231,994,669,052	1.6
45-49	3,045	141,032,028,085	2.2
50-54	2,949	206,983,425,830	1.4
55-59	2,896	181,434,472,031	1.6
60-64	2,613	159,224,667,743	1.6
65-69	2,180	138,073,801,836	1.6
70-74	1,820	86,418,132,296	2.1
75-79	1,423	50,149,632,670	2.8
80-84	947	17,832,442,086	5.3
≥85	806	10,246,348,307	7.9
Total*	45,436	1,839,804,958,112	2.5
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Among passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2024, the proportion in multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections increases steadily with age starting at 65-69. Multiple-vehicle crashes at intersections accounted for 43% of fatal crash involvements among drivers 80 and older, compared with about 24% for drivers ages 20-64.

Passenger vehicle drivers in fatal crashes by age and crash type, 2024
Age	Multiple-vehicle intersection crashes		Other multiple-vehicle crashes		Single-vehicle intersection crashes		Other single-vehicle crashes		All crashes*
Age	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
16-19	805	26	996	33	161	5	1,095	36	3,057	100
20-24	1,112	23	1,822	38	284	6	1,543	32	4,761	100
25-29	999	24	1,707	40	243	6	1,301	31	4,250	100
30-34	997	23	1,735	40	259	6	1,339	31	4,330	100
35-39	921	24	1,527	40	212	6	1,164	30	3,824	100
40-44	794	24	1,393	41	200	6	985	29	3,372	100
45-49	697	25	1,171	42	158	6	756	27	2,782	100
50-54	653	25	1,065	40	156	6	779	29	2,653	100
55-59	618	24	1,038	40	168	6	765	30	2,589	100
60-64	644	25	994	39	154	6	746	29	2,538	100
65-69	575	27	828	39	123	6	603	28	2,129	100
70-74	518	32	600	37	96	6	420	26	1,634	100
75-79	520	34	525	35	72	5	397	26	1,514	100
80-84	409	40	314	31	48	5	244	24	1,015	100
≥85	391	46	238	28	40	5	188	22	857	100
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Pedestrians

Pedestrian death rates per capita were lower for those ages 70 and older than for those ages 30-69.

Pedestrian deaths per 100,000 people by age and sex, 2024
Age	Male			Female			Total
Age	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths	Rate	Population	Deaths*	Rate
<13	26,186,557	81	0.3	25,052,130	57	0.2	51,238,687	138	0.3
13-15	6,569,575	34	0.5	6,253,573	27	0.4	12,823,148	61	0.5
16-19	9,227,470	122	1.3	8,784,660	55	0.6	18,012,130	178	1.0
20-24	11,451,815	254	2.2	10,970,121	138	1.3	22,421,936	393	1.8
25-29	11,390,736	344	3.0	11,069,140	144	1.3	22,459,876	488	2.2
30-34	12,127,715	446	3.7	11,866,273	167	1.4	23,993,988	615	2.6
35-39	11,702,213	493	4.2	11,467,859	197	1.7	23,170,072	692	3.0
40-44	11,253,735	490	4.4	11,115,417	209	1.9	22,369,152	699	3.1
45-49	10,129,805	362	3.6	10,164,244	158	1.6	20,294,049	521	2.6
50-54	10,192,640	356	3.5	10,293,667	128	1.2	20,486,307	485	2.4
55-59	10,051,985	416	4.1	10,307,943	145	1.4	20,359,928	564	2.8
60-64	10,363,023	439	4.2	10,938,774	160	1.5	21,301,797	599	2.8
65-69	9,297,585	378	4.1	10,191,886	147	1.4	19,489,471	527	2.7
70-74	7,402,084	244	3.3	8,553,407	138	1.6	15,955,491	383	2.4
75-79	5,435,868	171	3.1	6,557,458	104	1.6	11,993,326	276	2.3
80-84	3,141,063	126	4.0	4,165,424	80	1.9	7,306,487	206	2.8
≥85	2,414,013	82	3.4	4,021,130	60	1.5	6,435,143	143	2.2
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol

Ten percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers 70 years and older in 2024 had blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) at or above 0.08%, compared with 23% for drivers ages 60-69 and 38% for drivers ages 16-59.

Fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08% by age, 2024
Age	Drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BACs ≥ 0.08
Age	Number	Number	%
16-59 years	12,016	4,587	38
60-69 years	2,180	493	23
≥70 years	3,001	286	10