Key findings
Data from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)
- The death rate due to motor vehicle traffic (MVT) injury for persons aged 15–24 was stable from 2000 to 2006, declined 36% from 2006 (25.1 per 100,000) to 2010 (16.1), and then was stable through 2018 (14.7).
- Over the 2000–2018 period, MVT death rates for males aged 15–24 in rural areas were about twice those of males in urban areas; similarly, rates were twice as high for females in rural rather than urban areas.
- Although males aged 15–24 residing in the most rural counties (noncore) had the highest MVT death rate of all urbanicity groups, the rate significantly declined from 2006 to 2018.
- MVT death rates for females aged 15–24 were highest in the most rural counties (noncore) and lowest in the most urban counties (large central metro) throughout the entire period.
Deaths due to motor vehicle traffic (MVT) injury are a leading cause of death for adolescents and young adults aged 15–24, with death rates higher than for adults aged 25 and over (1). Adolescent and young adult drivers are less experienced, and they tend to be passengers in cars with less experienced drivers (2). This report presents trends in death rates due to MVT among persons aged 15–24 from 2000 to 2018 by sex, urban-rural classification, and urbanicity of county of residence.
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