What Are the Odds of Dying in a Car Crash?

What Are the Odds of Dying in a Car Crash?
Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham Blog July 30, 2021

What Are the Odds of Dying in a Car Crash?

As of 2019, Illinois had 8,546,932 and Iowa had 2,274,431 licensed drivers. Knowing these numbers helps put into perspective how many drivers you could potentially share an Illinois or Iowa road with across your lifetime. These numbers do not, however, offer insight on your odds of dying in a car crash in the Quad Cities should you ever collide with one of them.  

Odds of Dying in a Traffic Accident in Iowa or Illinois

According to data shared by the National Safety Council, the odds of dying from a motor-vehicle crash in 2019 were 1 in 8,393. Further, your probability of dying in a traffic accident in Iowa or Illinois is less than a 1%. 

For instance, the Iowa Department of Transportation shows that 336 people were killed in 2019 car wrecks in Iowa out of a total population of 3,155,070—in other words, 0.011% of the total population of the state died in a fatal traffic accident.

Conversely, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported that Illinois had an almost 300% increase in fatal wrecks in Illinois with a total of approximately 1,006 fatal wrecks. However, even though the state’s population is considerably higher at 12.67 million, there were approximately 0.003% fewer Illinois fatal car accidents total in 2019 than Iowa.  

Reading those numbers may bring you some comfort that the odds of dying in a car accident in the Quad Cities and surrounding cities are minimal. Unfortunately, you do have a higher chance of suffering a nonfatal traffic accident that results in minor injuries.

These minor injuries may include:

  • Bruises
  • Whiplash
  • Broken bones
  • Catastrophic / Life-changing injuries (such as traumatic brain injuries (TBI), burns, and paralysis) 

Other Activity Death Risk Rankings

You may also be wondering what your chances are of dying from other types of activities. Here are a few other examples that we found for comparison: 

  1. Drug overdose–Heroin and opioid painkillers cause 1 in 109 deaths in the US. 
  2. Plane crash death rate–There is a 1 in 205,552 chance of dying from a plane crash according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
  3. Death by skydiving–Your odds of dying skydiving are roughly 1 in 100,000 if you make one jump per year.
  4. Death from lightning strike–You have a 1 in 15,300 chance of getting struck by lightning in your lifetime.

Economic Costs Associated with Traffic Crash Injuries

Traffic accidents don’t only impact the person injured in an accident. Family members, friends, co-workers, and others may be affected by: 

  • Taking time off work
  • Loss of consortium
  • Managing daily tasks and responsibilities around a household 
  • Costs associated with medical care 
  • Funeral arrangement after a wrongful death 
  • Loss of income resulting in lower purchase rate for domestic products

What to Do If You’re Involved in a Quad Cities Car Crash 

As previously mentioned, the odds of getting into a fatal car crash in the Quad-Cities are minimal. However,  you may still suffer serious injuries from a nonfatal accident. If this should happen to you, Winstein, Kavensky & Cunningham has 120 years of combined experience providing favorable outcomes for our clients. In fact, we’ve assisted injury victims recover damages to cover medical costs, lost property, and lost wages.  These damages are in addition to also winning compensation for pain and suffering

Contact us today for a free, no obligation consultation to learn more about your legal options and legal counsel towards making well-informed decisions moving forward.

Call (309) 794-1515 now, chat with a live agent, or share more details with us by filling out this form.

The information on this blog is for general information purposes only. Nothing herein should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.