Car Accident Deaths by Age in the US

Quick answer: Of the 39,254 people killed on US roads in 2024, the largest age group was 25–34 (6,921 deaths). Teenagers aged 15–19 accounted for 2,662 deaths and people aged 65 and over for 8,019. Counting deaths per year of age, the 20–24 band is the deadliest. These are counts, not rates: see the notes below.

By year

US road deaths by age group

Everyone who died within 30 days of a crash: drivers, passengers, pedestrians, cyclists and riders.

Age	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	Share 2020–2024
0–14	1,101	1,200	1,130	1,023	1,032	2.7%
15–19	2,516	2,823	2,625	2,818	2,662	6.6%
20–24	4,169	4,319	4,150	4,145	3,963	10.1%
25–34	7,737	8,509	8,132	7,614	6,921	19.0%
35–44	5,865	6,764	6,758	6,444	6,252	15.6%
45–54	5,248	5,823	5,708	5,261	4,963	13.2%
55–64	5,622	6,045	6,002	5,656	5,246	13.9%
65–74	3,547	4,077	4,316	4,278	4,128	9.9%
75 and over	3,035	3,453	3,706	3,633	3,891	8.6%
Age unknown	167	217	194	153	196	0.5%

2020–2024 combined

How each age group died

Age	Drivers	Passengers	Pedestrians	Cyclists	Other / unknown
0–14	275	3,952	885	234	140
15–19	7,604	4,474	1,028	233	105
20–24	14,228	4,120	2,077	195	126
25–34	26,889	5,203	6,025	595	201
35–44	20,976	3,548	6,555	816	188
45–54	17,732	2,774	5,422	850	225
55–64	17,983	2,667	6,403	1,219	299
65–74	12,679	2,356	4,378	688	245
75 and over	11,054	3,383	2,816	334	131
Age unknown	172	170	486	83	16

More US crash data: Drunk driving deaths by state · Deaths by gender · Teen deaths by state · car accidents by state · US road deaths by year · US drunk driving limit · interstate accident histories.

Questions

FAQ

What age group has the most car accident deaths?

People aged 25–34 had the most US road deaths over 2020–2024 (38,913). Because the bands differ in width, it is fairer to count deaths per year of age: on that measure the 20–24 band is highest, with about 830 deaths per year of age each year.

How many teenagers die in car accidents each year?

In 2024, 2,662 people aged 15–19 died on US roads. Over 2020–2024 the total was 13,444. State figures are on the teen deaths by state page.

Do older drivers cause more fatal crashes?

People aged 65 and over made up 18.5% of US road deaths in 2020–2024. Older people are more likely to die from the same crash because the body is more fragile, so a high death count does not by itself mean they crash more often.

At what age are drivers most likely to be killed?

Among drivers killed in 2020–2024, 21,832 were aged 15–24 and 26,889 were 25–34. Pedestrian deaths follow a different pattern: the age group with the most pedestrians killed was 35–44 (6,555), and 11,825 pedestrians killed were aged 45–64.

Is this a crash rate by age?

No. These are counts of deaths. A true rate needs the population or miles driven for each age group, which FARS does not contain. Younger adults and older people both rank high on published per-mile rates, but this page does not calculate them.

Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020–2024 annual files, public domain. Counted by LiveAccidentTracker from the accident, person and imputed-BAC (MIPER) tables. FARS counts people who died within 30 days of a crash on a public road. The 2024 file is NHTSA's latest annual release and can still be revised. Age and sex are as recorded by police; a small number are unknown. See the methodology.