What are the chances of dying in a car accident?

Answer 1

In the USA there are about 40000 deaths in car crashes every year (see http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx). That suggests that if you drive the average amount for 50 years (reasonable assumption), your chances of dying in a car are roughly 1 in 100.

By the way, SUVs are more dangerous for their occupants (they roll over in accidents, and due to poor handling are less likely to be able to avoid an accident than a car) as well as to other road users (chance of killing occupant of another vehicle is between 2 and 6 times higher in SUV than car). Since there are more and more SUVs on the road, expect your chances of dying in a car crash to increase over the next few years. Another point - US driver deaths in the 21-24 age group have hiked since 2002. Comparing the 8 years 1994-2001 against the six since, 2002-2007, deaths are up about 13%. (http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Trends/TrendsOccupants.aspx)