Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths*

Data Source

National Center for Health Statistics - Mortality Files; Census Population Estimates Program

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) provides birth and death data drawn from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). These data are submitted to the NVSS by the vital registration systems operated in the jurisdictions legally responsible for registering vital events (i.e., births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and fetal deaths). 

The Census Bureau’s Population Estimates Program (PEP) uses data on births, deaths, and migration to estimate population changes occurring since the most recent decennial census and produce a vintage, or annual time series of estimates. Each vintage includes the current data year and revised estimates for any earlier years since the last decennial census. Because each vintage of estimates includes all years since the most recent decennial census, the latest vintage supersedes all other estimates produced since the previous decennial census. See the Population Estimates Program methodology for statements and release notes for each vintage of population estimates.

Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths is a rate

Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths is the number of deaths due to traffic accidents involving a motor vehicle per 100,000 population. Rates measure the number of events (e.g., deaths, births) in a given time period divided by the average number of people at risk during that period. Rates help us compare health data across counties with different population sizes.

The method for calculating Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths has changed

Prior to the 2013 Annual Data Release, non-traffic motor vehicle accidents were included in the definition of Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths. With the 2013 Annual Data Release the definition of Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths was changed to exclude non-traffic accidents to better align with Healthy People 2020.

In the 2024 Annual Data Release, data from the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program were used in the calculation of the denominator for this measure. In previous data releases, the denominator was calculated from the National Center for Health Statistics Bridged-Race Population Estimates; this data series was discontinued in 2023. The denominator change and updates to race categories in the 2024 Annual Data Release mean that comparisons with previous years should be made with caution. 

Deaths are counted in the county of residence for the person who died, rather than the county where the death occurred

It is important to note that deaths are counted in the county of residence of the deceased. So, even if a motor vehicle crash death occurred across the state, the death is counted in the home county of the individual who died.

Some data are suppressed

A missing value is reported for counties with fewer than 10 motor vehicle crash deaths in the time period.

Caution should be used when comparing these estimates across years

Caution should be used when comparing across years due to methods changes described in the “The method for calculating Motor Vehicle Crash Deaths has changed” section.

Numerator

The numerator includes traffic accidents involving motorcycles, 3-wheel motor vehicles, cars, vans, trucks, buses, street cars, ATVs, industrial, agricultural, and construction vehicles, and bicyclists or pedestrians when colliding with any of these vehicles, over a seven-year period (ICD10 codes: V02-V04 (.1, .9), V09.2, V12-V14 (.3-.9), V19 (.4-.6), V20-V28 (.3-.9), V29-V79 (.4-.9), V80 (.3-.5), V81.1, V82.1, V83-V86 (.0-.3), V87 (.0-.8), and V89.2). Deaths due to boating accidents and airline crashes are not included in the numerator.

Denominator

The denominator is the aggregate annual population over the seven-year period.

This measure can be used to measure progress with some caveats. It is important to note that the estimate provided in the Health Snapshots is a seven-year average. However, in most counties, it is relatively simple to obtain single-year estimates from the resource included below. Motor vehicle crash deaths data can also be further broken down by year and vehicle type or pedestrian involvement. These breakdowns could help measure the impact of interventions specific to motor vehicle crash prevention.

Disaggregation means breaking data down into smaller, meaningful subgroups. Disaggregated data are often broken down by characteristics of people or where they live. Disaggregated data can reveal inequalities that are otherwise hidden. These data can be disaggregated by:

• Age
• Gender
• Race

We recommend starting with the CDC Wonder database, which contains information on motor vehicle crash death rates by race, ethnicity, age, gender, geography, and more. Rates can be exported as crude or age adjusted. Small counties might need to combine multiple years of data to see rates, as CDC suppresses any rates when there are fewer than 10 deaths.

In addition, many states support databases of motor vehicle-related hospitalizations or emergency department visits.

¹ Stewart T. Overview of motor vehicle crashes in 2021. Washington, D.C.: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA); 2023.

² Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Transportation safety – cost data and prevention policies. 2020. Accessed December 21, 2023. https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/costs/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal 

³ Yellman MA, Sauber-Schatz EK. Motor vehicle crash deaths — United States and 28 other high-income countries, 2015 and 2019. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). 2022;71(26):837-843. 

⁴ Caird JK, Johnston KA, Willness CR, Asbridge M, Steel P. A meta-analysis of the effects of texting on driving. Accident Analysis & Prevention. 2014;71:311-318.