What Are the Chances of Getting in a Car Crash?

There is no single percentage that accurately predicts an individual driver’s chance of being involved in a car crash. Risk depends on how much a person drives, age and experience, location, road type, weather, traffic density, vehicle condition, speed, distraction, impairment, and other factors. National crash statistics can estimate rates per licensed driver, registered vehicle, population, or miles travelled, but those measurements answer different questions. A person who drives thousands of miles each month has a different exposure from someone who drives only occasionally. Risk can be reduced by wearing a seat belt, avoiding phone use and impairment, maintaining safe following distances, obeying speed limits, and adapting to road conditions. For legal purposes, general crash probabilities do not establish fault in a specific accident. Liability is determined from evidence about what the drivers and other responsible parties actually did before and during the collision.