Key Annual Statistics For The USA
| 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
| Total Road Deaths in the USA | 42,196 | 43,005 | 42,884 | 42,636 |
| Fatalities per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled (the ‘VMT rate’) | 1.51 | 1.51 | 1.48 | 1.46 |
| Fatalities per 100,000 Population (the ‘per capita’ rate) | 14.80 | 14.94 | 14.75 | 14.52 |
| Fatalities per 10,000 Registered Vehicles | 19.07 | 19.06 | 18.58 | 18.00 |
Source: FARS (per their figures as of November 13, 2020)
DSA Comment: The most saddening and reprehensible aspect of these figures is the failure of the relevant governing bodies to reduce the overall number of deaths year-on-year.
Most developed nations have made vastly more significant reductions and — in addition — have targets to cut their respective overall road-death tolls by either 40 percent or 50 percent by either 2010 or 2012 (with these variables depending on the specific countries).
The USA, however, only has a goal to reduce the VMT rate to 1.00 by 2008 (as confirmed by the US DOT in 2004), yet from the above figures alone, two startling facts emerge:
— the achievement of this goal seems remarkably unlikely
— even when the VMT rate stays level or reduces, it is quite possible for the total number of actual road deaths to increase (see 2001-02, and 2001-03, above). As a result of this it is clear that a mere reduction in the VMT rate is an inadequate and even negligently lethal goal for such a progressive and otherwise immensely successful nation.
Comparative per capita rates for over 50 countries may be viewed here.