The number and types of motor vehicle crash deaths differ between the 50 United States. Statistics from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety show data for Washington State that helps us understand factors that affects our State’s rates of motor vehicle deaths, including types of vehicles driven, travel speeds, weather, topography and other factors.
The data for 2014 shows that Washington State had a population of 7,061,530 with 57,211,000 total vehicle miles driven. In 2014, there were 429 fatal automobile collisions in Washington State, with 462 deaths. This is a rate of 6.5 per 100,000 people, which places our State at the lower end of the spectrum for all of the United States. In breaking down the statistics for 2014, 68 of the 462 deaths were for people on motorcycles, 75 were pedestrians, and 7 were bicyclists. 59% of the accidents that led to a death in Washington State in 2014 were single car crashes. 46% were multiple car crashes.
We all know that alcohol and driving do not mix, and statistics prove this. In 2014, Washington had 216 fatal accidents that were related to the use of alcohol while driving. Washington State reported 30% of fatal injured drivers had a blood alcohol content higher than the legal limit. This is less than the highest state, which was Montana at 49%, but worse than the best state, Utah, which reported 18%.
Fortunately for Washington, 95% of drivers report using seat belts, which continue to help avoid serious injury and death.
Finally, where a State is varied in geography as in Washington, you would expect there to be significant differences between fatalities involving urban versus rural roadways. However, the statistics show that the number of motor vehicles crashes involving deaths in urban areas of Washington represented 53% of total accidents in 2014 versus 46% in rural areas.
You can read more about the study and statistics by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at the following link:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/topics/t/general-statistics/fatalityfacts/state-by-state-overview/2014