According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), annual fatalities from car, truck, and motorcycle collisions in the United States were 11.1 per 100,000 people in 2019, 2.3 times higher than the global average. While 21 other countries saw a decrease in crash-related mortality from 2015 to 2019, the rate of death in the United States remained constant.
Motor vehicle deaths are yet another blemish on public health measures in the United States, which, despite its wealth, ranks 60th in the world in terms of life expectancy. A recent report from a bipartisan group of national health experts called for more public health representation at the highest levels of government, as well as consistent funding for state and local health departments, in order to improve responses to health crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only Chile came close to matching the United States in 2019 motor vehicle deaths, with a rate of 10.5 per 100,000 people. Norway had the lowest mortality rate, with 2 deaths per 100,000 people.
According to the researchers, countries such as Australia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and Sweden have implemented measures that make driving safer for everyone by focusing on roads, road users, vehicles, speeds, and post-crash care. According to the study, "other high-income countries have demonstrated that substantial reductions in crash deaths can be achieved."
The United States could save approximately 20,517 lives and $280.5 million in overall medical costs each year if death rates were reduced to 4.8 per 100,000, the average among other high-income countries surveyed in the CDC's National Center for Injury Prevention and Control study. However, preliminary data indicate that motor vehicle-related deaths in the United States, which include pedestrians, bicyclists, and others, are continuing to rise, with early estimates for 2021 increasing to nearly 43,000 in 2021 from 36,355 in 2019.
According to the CDC, life expectancy at birth in the United States in 2020 was 77 years, a 1.8-year decrease from 2019. This was primarily due to the pandemic. Other areas where the United States lags behind the rest of the developed world include opioid-related deaths and firearm-related fatalities.