Which car makes and models have been involved in the most road accidents in the US?
Home / Blog / America’s Most Accident-Prone Cars
Perhaps one of the most dangerous risks we take every day, without even noticing, is taking a trip out in our cars. Every year in the U.S, there are thousands of road accidents resulting in fatalities and life-threatening injuries. Both the driver and passengers are at serious risk, and despite the safety precautions we take with seatbelts, airbags and crumple zones, we continue to see an alarming increase in injuries caused by automotive accidents.
The cause of someone being involved in a road traffic accident could boil down to many different factors, such as the personal circ*mstances of the driver, the actions of other road users, and the road quality. Another risk factor could be the type of vehicle they are driving and its suitability for the road.
While many car crashes are often the driver’s fault, usually down to inexperience behind the wheel, speeding and drunk driving, let’s consider the vehicles themselves. Are there some models that are more likely than others to become involved in accidents?
When looking at car crash statistics in the U.S., this definitely seems to be the case. While there are some striking similarities in the data, it’s worth noting that some areas are far riskier than others to drive in. With this in mind, we at 1-800-Injured wanted to identify the car makes and models that had been involved in the most accidents, in each U.S. state. We also wanted to compare the number of crashes/accidents against the number of sales of each car in 2021 to get a more accurate result.
The Most Accident-Prone Cars in the U.S. Overall
These cars accounted for the most crashes in the U.S. overall between 2016 to 2022. Most of these makes and models were the most accident prone for many of our states. We found the most accident prone cars in each state, by looking at the number of crashes between 2016 and 2020, and looking at car sales data from 2021.
What Vehicle Causes The Most Accidents?
The following infographic shows us these car accident statistics by make and model:
1. Ford Fusion
Crashes per Number of Sold Cars: 16.39%
The now discontinued Ford Fusion model accounted for 1,931 crashes between 2016 and 2020 in the US. Its sales in the US in 2021 were recorded at 11,781, that’s 16.39% of crashes compared to the number of cars on the road.
The final model year for the Fusion was in 2020 in North America, effectively ending what was left of Ford’s 4-door car lineup in North America. The Fusion has well-documented issues with engine stalls, fire, loss of acceleration, transmission shifting, noisy creaks, leaks, tricky lug nuts, and steering failures, among others.
2. Nissan Maxima
Crashes per Number of Sold Cars: 7.00%
Falling behind the Ford Fusion for its crashes per number of sold cars, is the Nissan Maxima. The 4-door sports car accounted for 1,147 crashes between 2016 and 2020, with 16,386 sales recorded in 2021.
Another model that is likely to become discontinued, According to Car and Driver, Nissan plans to end production of the Maxima in the middle of 2023. The reason for the Maxima’s discontinuation is because of Nissan’s shift toward electric cars.
3. Ford Mustang
Crashes per Number of Sold Cars: 3.67%
Third on our list for its crashes per number of sold cars, is the Ford Mustang, regularly making the news as the most popular sports car worldwide. Accounting for 1,925 crashes in the US from 2016 to 2020, and with 52,384 sales in 2021, it’s no wonder that the Mustang is in our top three.
According to J.D. Power’s data, the 2019 Mustang is no doubt a reliable model. Overall, it had a 79 out of 100 score, and the NHTSA gave the car a safety rating of 5 out of 5. The model’s sheer popularity is likely to be a contributing factor to why it has seen a high volume of crashes in recent years.
All U.S. States’ Most Accident-Prone Cars
We found the most accident prone cars in each state, by looking at the number of crashes between 2016 and 2020. There is a recurring pattern, as almost all of the states have the same car in the top spot. We compared the top 5 cars that occurred in the most crashes in each state to the number of those models sold in the U.S. in 2021.
1. Honda Accord
Number of Crashes in US States per 100,000 Sold Cars: 2,627.84
The Honda Accord accounted for the most crashes in 18 states, totalling to 2,627.84 crashes per 100,000 sold cars in 2021.
The Accord is a series of cars manufactured by Honda since 1976, best known for its four-door saloon variant, which has been one of the best-selling cars in the United States since 1989. Several issues have been reported with the Honda model, including transmission problems.
2. Nissan Altima
Number of Crashes in US States per 100,000 Sold Cars: 1,877.12
The Nissan Altima is a sedan that has been manufactured by Nissan since 1992. The Nissan Altima Coupe was discontinued due to slow sales after the 2013 model year, which means Nissan will only focus on the sedan model for the Altima while the hybrid and coupe are discontinued.
The worst problems with the Altima have to do with its continuously variable transmission (CVT).
3. Chevrolet Silverado
Number of Crashes in US States per 100,000 Sold Cars: 1,529.92
The Chevrolet Silverado accounted for 1,529.92 crashes per 100,000 sold cars. It appeared as the most crashed vehicle in 14 states.
The Chevy truck is a popular choice among drivers for cross-country driving. The Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. One of the major problems reported by chevy owners is very early engine failure.
One study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety revealed that drivers and passengers of pickup trucks are 2.5 times more likely to suffer fatal injuries in a traffic accident.
Methodology:
We started by using NHTSA’s Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST) to look at car crash data in the U.S. between 2016-2020. By using the ‘Build Your Report’ section, we were able to add the crash date year and U.S. state, to find the crashes in each U.S. state.
We calculated the number of crashes in each state caused by each car, and we were then able to find the most accident prone car by looking at those makes and models that had been involved in the most crashes. This data is accurate as of 21/07/2022.
We then took it a step further and looked at GoodCarBadCar’s 2021 US AUTO SALES BY MODEL ANALYSIS, and took car sales data from 2021 for each make and model on our U.S. car list, as well as our state’s list. We then compared the number of crashes to the make and model’s annual sales data in 2021. This was done to give a more accurate result for the number of crashes compared to how many cars are on the road of that particular make and model.
We were unable to gather information for some of the car models mentioned so those cars were removed from our Most Accident-Prone Cars list, and our State’s Most Accident-Prone Cars list. This data is accurate as of 23/08/2022.
The cars that were the most involved in crashes for each state were ranked to find the top 5 most accident-prone cars, taking into account the sales data for each model in 2021. This data is accurate as of 23/08/2022.
