NHTSA data tells us that, in the U.S., between 2023 and 2024, 80,246 people died due to motor vehicle accidents, with accidents (including motor vehicle accidents) the third leading national cause of death.
According to the CDC, of the 197,490 deaths occurring in 2024, 39,345 (20%) were due to motor vehicle accidents. In 2023, law enforcement reported 6.1 million traffic crashes that caused 2.44 million injuries and 40,901 fatalities.
Using 2023 data (with full 2024 data as yet unavailable), this study will uncover the car brands most involved in car accidents in the U.S., and we’ll also consider the driver behavioral factors that lead to accidents.
Before we look at either brands or drivers, it’s worth considering the vehicle types most involved in fatal accidents.
The Vehicles Types Most Involved In Fatal Traffic Accidents
Study data confirms that 58,319 vehicles were involved in fatal crashes in 2023. By closely examining which vehicles were involved in the crashes, we can broadly illustrate the comparative danger factor each vehicle type represents.
By a significant margin, light trucks were the vehicles most frequently involved in fatal accidents (25,336), accounting for 43.4% of total figures.
Passenger cars were the second most common vehicle type involved (18,778 vehicles), making up 32.2% of the total.
Combined, light trucks and passenger cars accounted for more than three–quarters of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes, reflecting their prevalence on U.S. roads and their incessant involvement in serious collisions.
Motorcycles, despite representing a much smaller share of overall vehicle traffic, accounted for 6,432 fatalities (11.0%), numbers that highlight the disproportionate risk motorcyclists face during severe crashes.
Large trucks were involved in 5,375 fatal crash incidents, 9.2% of total fatal vehicle accident numbers, significant figures that underline just how dangerous large commercial transport can be when involved in a crash.
Other or unidentified vehicle types accounted for 2,154 fatal crashes (3.7%), while buses represented the smallest fatal crash involvement: just 244 were involved in fatal crashes, 0.4% of the total.
Ultimately, the vehicle types most frequently involved in fatal crashes are usually those that spend most time on U.S. roads: they’re driven most often, and cover a lot of miles, in a wide range of driving conditions.
As passenger cars and light trucks (including pickups and SUVs) make up the majority of registered vehicles in the United States and account for most vehicle miles traveled, this makes them more likely to be involved in serious crashes.
Light trucks are usually bigger and bulkier than passenger cars, which can increase crash severity, especially when it comes to multi-vehicle collisions or high-speed impacts.
Motorcycles, though less frequently seen on the road, represent a comparatively high fatality risk due to a rider’s physical exposure and lack of impact protection.
The considerable weight of large trucks can lead to especially severe or fatal crash outcomes, particularly on highways or in congested traffic, as federal crash reports confirm.
So, that’s vehicle types. But which vehicle brands are at the forefront of fatal crash statistics?
The Vehicle Brands Most Involved in Fatal Motor Vehicle Crashes
According to study data, a small number of vehicle brands were involved in a large share of fatal crashes, with the leading brands way ahead in the ranking list.
Chevrolet (7,261) and Ford (7,150) led all manufacturers by a wide margin for the number of fatal crashes. Toyota (5,161), Honda (4,453), and Nissan (3,279 vehicles) rounded out the top five. Combined, these five brands accounted for a huge share of vehicles involved in fatal crashes across the year.
Other manufacturers with high levels of crash involvement included Dodge (2,419) vehicles, Harley–Davidson (2,271 vehicles, reflecting a high number of motorcycle crashes), Jeep (1,742 vehicles), GMC (1,732 vehicles), and Hyundai (1,606 vehicles).
Overall, these ten brands represent a significant portion of the 58,319 total vehicles involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes in 2023.
While the data reflects vehicle involvement rather than fault (and may include multiple vehicles from a single crash), it provides a clear and comprehensive snapshot of the brands most frequently present in fatal crashes. And part of that reason is simply: these brands sell extremely well in the U.S.
How Vehicle Sales Patterns Align With Crash Data
The prominence of these brands in fatal crashes aligns with broader patterns in U.S. vehicle sales, with many of the manufacturers that rank high for crashes also ranking high for consumer popularity.
According to industry sales data, Toyota and Ford were the top two selling brands in the U.S. in 2023, each selling well over 1.5 million vehicles, with Chevrolet, Honda, and Nissan close behind.
In a competitive U.S. auto market where these brands secure substantial annual sales and market share, their high-road presence naturally leads to greater representation in crash involvement.
And although high sales volume has no relation to individual car danger, the overlap between the best-selling brands and those most frequently involved in fatal crashes highlights how the sheer number of vehicles on the road can influence crash statistics. This means vehicle presence on U.S. roads must be factored in when we consider crash data.
Another crash determinant that must also be factored in: driver behavior.
The Dangerous Driver Behavior That Leads To Fatal Crashes
Dangerous driver behavior is a huge contributor to deadly crash statistics, with alcohol impairment the most prominent and persistent risk factor.
17,000 vehicles were involved in fatal crashes, following which the driver was found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher, a far higher number than for other crashes caused by driver behavior.
Speeding was the second most common contributory factor (10,700 vehicles), reflecting the extent to which excessive speed reduces reaction time and increases crash severity.
While distracted driving accounts for a smaller comparative share of fatal crashes (5,200), the numbers still emphasize the fatal consequences of driver inattention.
It’s important to note that these behaviors are by no means mutually exclusive, with many fatal crashes involving a combination of risky driver behaviors, like speeding while drunk or distracted, compounding the likelihood of a severe outcome.
The study findings tell us that while distracted drivers and speeding remain critical issues, drunk driving is the driver behavior that leads to the most fatalities. This understanding reinforces the need for more effective enforcement, education, and prevention efforts, predominantly focused on alcohol impaired drivers.
Let’s take a closer look at how each individual driver’s behavior aligns with brand crash statistics.
Vehicle Brand Involvement by Driver Behavior
An expanded analysis of fatal crash data by vehicle brand reveals that dangerous driving behaviors are broadly attributable to the vehicles most present on U.S. roads, rather than being confined to a small set of niche manufacturers.
Across all three behavioral categories (alcohol impairment, speeding, and distracted driving), Chevrolet and Ford consistently rank first and second, reflecting their ubiquitous presence on American roads and higher overall fatal crash involvement.
Alcohol impairment is a significant fatal crash factor, especially at very high blood alcohol concentration levels (BAC ≥ .15). The following counts represent the number of vehicles involved in crashes at two different BAC levels, not the number of crashes or fatalities.
The high number of vehicles involved in crashes that feature a driver with a BAC above .15 suggests an alarming number of accidents involving drivers significantly over the limit – and an urgent need for better enforcement and targeted messaging.
Speeding–related fatal crashes involve a mix of passenger vehicles and motorcycles (with motorcycle brand Harley-Davidson featuring prominently), underlining just how much excessive speed increases the vulnerability of riders lacking sufficient physical protection.
Distracted driving remains a persistent and widespread risk factor across a familiar group of popular brands.
Vehicles involved in fatal crashes partially caused by distracted driving often overlap with fatal crashes associated with other dangerous behaviors. This emphasizes how much inattention (like using a phone while driving) can exacerbate risks like speeding or drunk driving.
The study findings reinforce the fact that roadsafety improvements demand a multifaceted approach that simultaneously addresses alcohol impairment, speeding, and driver distraction, especially regarding the drivers of the nation’s most popular vehicles.
Another issue that would improve vehicle safety across many brands is the broad standardization of safety technology.
Plugging The Tech Safety Gap
While the vehicle brands most often involved in fatal crashes often offer a range of driver-assist technologies, there are still key safety tech gap inconsistencies across numerous car manufacturers. This is particularly true if we consider how infrequently brand models feature (as standard) advanced safety systems that can prevent or mitigate dangerous behaviors like speeding, distraction, and drunk driving.
Government and industry safety programs, such as the NHTSA’s 5-Star Safety Ratings, encourage the universal inclusion of features like automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane departure warning to help reduce crash severity and frequency, but adoption across all car packages is relatively rare.
Industry data shows that many Toyota and Honda brand models include driver-assist suites (such as Toyota Safety Sense and Honda Sensing) that bundle AEB, lane assist, and adaptive cruise control. Yet these packages are not always standard on every vehicle in a brand’s lineup or across all models.
In fact, some major automakers have pushed back against federal mandates to accelerate the deployment of advanced AEB systems across all new vehicles and resisted the implementation of universal safety tech, despite its clear life-saving potential.
Additionally, ongoing regulatory scrutiny, such as a federal investigation into some hands-free driving systems that struggle to detect stationary objects at high speeds, highlights limitations in current automated driving and driver-monitoring technologies offered by brands like Ford.
These factors illustrate that despite many leading brands incorporating advanced safety features on select models, the lack of standard deployment of key technologies across entire lineups represents an ongoing safety gap. By making such safety options standard, said brands could limit the types of dangerous driving behavior that cause fatal accidents.
Limiting Crash Fatalities Across All Car Brands
Motor vehicle crashes represent a profound national safety challenge, with more than 80,000 fatalities recorded between 2023 and 2024.
In 2023 alone, law enforcement agencies reported approximately 6.1 million traffic crashes, resulting in 40,901 deaths and a further 2.44 million injuries. 58,319 vehicles were involved in fatal motor vehicle collisions: analysis of vehicle involvement reveals that fatal crashes are unevenly distributed across vehicle types.
Chevrolet (7,261) and Ford (7,150) led all manufacturers by a wide margin for the number of fatal crashes
Light trucks (including pickups, SUVs, and vans) were most involved in fatal crashes (43.4%), followed by passenger cars (32.2%). Motorcycles (which accounted for 11.0% of vehicles involved in fatal crashes) remain disproportionately represented relative to their share of total vehicle miles traveled, underscoring the vulnerability of motorcyclists.
Large trucks, though involved in a smaller percentage of fatal crashes, were associated with 9.2% of fatal vehicle involvements due to the severity of their crash impact.
In terms of brands, fatal crash involvement was limited to a relatively small group of vehicle manufacturers, led by Chevrolet and Ford, followed by Toyota, Honda, and Nissan.
Together, these brands accounted for a substantial share of all vehicles involved in fatal crashes in 2023, a pattern that closely aligns with broader U.S. vehicle sales and market share trends as opposed to individual vehicle risk.
Driver behavior is also a crucial determinant of fatal crash outcomes, with alcohol-impaired driving the most prominent and persistent risk, followed by speeding and distracted driving.
And these behaviors frequently overlap, meaning many fatal crashes involve multiple compounding risk factors, such as speeding while impaired or driving too fast while distracted.
Crucially, study data tells us that wide gaps in vehicle safety technology deployment may exacerbate fatality risks. While many leading manufacturers offer advanced driver-assistance systems designed to mitigate crashes, these features are not yet standardized.
Ultimately, the popularity of specific car brands is not a factor when it comes to measuring the frequency of fatal crashes. Until enforcement against dangerous driver behaviour becomes more effective, and until more cars are fitted with standard life-saving technology features, needless fatalities will continue to occur on American roads.
John Foy & Associates can help you get the compensation you deserve after a car or motorcycle accident. Contact us for a free consultation. We have over 350 years of combined experience and have brought clients over $1 billion in compensation. We’re here to serve as “The Strong Arm™” for your claim.
