VehDB Insights · NHTSA FARS
Vehicles Involved in Fatal Crashes in 2021
Every vehicle in a fatal crash on U.S. public roads in 2021, ranked by make and model. Involvement is absolute and tracks how many are on the road; occupant deaths per involved vehicle is the number to compare between models.
61,802
Vehicles involved
in fatal crashes, 2021
34,482
Occupant deaths
people killed inside those vehicles
0.56
Deaths per vehicle
all vehicles, all body classes
25
Models ranked
by involvement, below
| # | Vehicle | Vehicles involved | Occupant deaths | Deaths per vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevrolet Silverado Incomplete |
2,057
|
917 | 0.45 |
| 2 | Ford F-150 Pickup |
1,786
|
859 | 0.48 |
| 3 | Honda Accord Coupe |
1,302
|
858 | 0.66 |
| 4 | Toyota Camry Coupe |
1,254
|
748 | 0.60 |
| 5 | Honda Civic Coupe |
1,114
|
743 | 0.67 |
| 6 | Nissan Altima Coupe |
958
|
662 | 0.69 |
| 7 | Freightliner Cascadia Incomplete - Glider |
954
|
137 | 0.14 |
| 8 | Dodge Ram Cargo Van |
886
|
401 | 0.45 |
| 9 | Toyota Corolla Hatchback/Liftback/Notchback |
867
|
531 | 0.61 |
| 10 | GMC Sierra Incomplete |
841
|
386 | 0.46 |
| 11 | Ford F-250 Pickup |
657
|
245 | 0.37 |
| 12 | Chevrolet Malibu Hatchback/Liftback/Notchback |
654
|
429 | 0.66 |
| 13 | Ford Explorer Incomplete - Stripped Chassis |
596
|
284 | 0.48 |
| 14 | Chevrolet Impala Other or Unknown automobile type |
576
|
394 | 0.68 |
| 15 | Chevrolet Tahoe Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) |
571
|
267 | 0.47 |
| 16 | Jeep Grand Cherokee Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) |
567
|
279 | 0.49 |
| 17 | Toyota Tacoma Pickup |
558
|
282 | 0.51 |
| 18 | Ford Fusion Sedan/Saloon |
554
|
315 | 0.57 |
| 19 | Ford Escape Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) |
518
|
331 | 0.64 |
| 20 | RAM 1500 Pickup |
508
|
160 | 0.31 |
| 21 | Chevrolet Equinox Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) |
497
|
263 | 0.53 |
| 22 | Honda CR-V Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) |
495
|
267 | 0.54 |
| 23 | Hyundai Elantra Coupe |
474
|
312 | 0.66 |
| 24 | Ford Focus Coupe |
472
|
316 | 0.67 |
| 25 | Nissan Sentra Other or Unknown automobile type |
469
|
298 | 0.64 |
Top 25 by involvement. Motorcycles and heavy trucks are included where FARS identifies the model.
Survivability by body class, 2021
Occupant deaths per vehicle involved in a fatal crash. Lower is better for the people inside; it says nothing about the other party, which is why heavy trucks score lowest.
| Body class | Vehicles involved | Occupant deaths | Deaths per vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sedan/Saloon | 16,899 | 10,619 | 0.63 |
| Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)/Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) | 13,259 | 6,723 | 0.51 |
| Pickup | 10,319 | 4,848 | 0.47 |
| Truck-Tractor | 3,352 | 516 | 0.15 |
| Coupe | 1,840 | 1,258 | 0.68 |
| Motorcycle - Sport | 1,818 | 1,755 | 0.97 |
| Hatchback/Liftback/Notchback | 1,806 | 1,198 | 0.66 |
| Motorcycle - Touring / Sport Touring | 1,405 | 1,381 | 0.98 |
| Minivan | 1,227 | 655 | 0.53 |
| Truck | 1,039 | 181 | 0.17 |
| Motorcycle - Custom | 973 | 954 | 0.98 |
| Motorcycle - Cruiser | 580 | 565 | 0.97 |
| Cargo Van | 555 | 209 | 0.38 |
| Crossover Utility Vehicle (CUV) | 536 | 267 | 0.50 |
| Convertible/Cabriolet | 464 | 332 | 0.72 |
| Motorcycle - Street | 429 | 418 | 0.97 |
| Van | 383 | 210 | 0.55 |
| Incomplete - Chassis Cab (Single Cab) | 338 | 62 | 0.18 |
| Wagon | 314 | 204 | 0.65 |
| Off-road Vehicle - All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) (Motorcycle-style) | 302 | 295 | 0.98 |
| Motorcycle - Scooter | 265 | 262 | 0.99 |
| Motorcycle - Standard | 217 | 211 | 0.97 |
| Off-road Vehicle - Recreational Off-Road Vehicle (ROV) | 211 | 204 | 0.97 |
| Incomplete - Cutaway | 153 | 42 | 0.27 |
| Sport Utility Truck (SUT) | 139 | 65 | 0.47 |
| Incomplete - Chassis Cab (Number of Cab Unknown) | 133 | 37 | 0.28 |
| Motorcycle - Dual Sport / Adventure / Supermoto / On/Off-road | 109 | 108 | 0.99 |
| Bus | 106 | 6 | 0.06 |
| Off-road Vehicle - Farm Equipment | 101 | 46 | 0.46 |
Methodology
- Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System, the census of fatal crashes on U.S. public roads, mirrored into VehDB. 2021 is a final file.
- A vehicle is counted once per fatal crash it was involved in. Make and model are NHTSA's vPIC decoding of the VIN; vehicles NHTSA could not decode are excluded from the ranking but included in the totals.
- "Occupant deaths" are people killed in that vehicle, not everyone killed in the crash. Deaths per vehicle therefore measures how the vehicle protected its own occupants once a fatal crash happened, not how likely the crash was.
- Involvement is absolute: a model with more vehicles on the road appears in more crashes at the same risk. No registration data is used to normalise it.
Need this per vehicle or per model year?
GET /v1/insights/fatal-crashes/vehicles and /body-classes return these rankings; GET /v1/insights/scorecard lines fatal-crash involvement up with complaints, recalls and NCAP per model year.