How many miles do Americans drive every year?
Practically every household has at least one private vehicle. Americans rely on their cars, vans, motorcycles, and trucks more than ever. That means people put a lot of miles on their vehicles in a given year. However, the statistics vary across gender and age groups. So, how many miles are Americans driving annually?
Average Miles Per Year by Gender
In America, approximately 85% of people have a valid driver’s license. On average, Americans drive somewhere around 13,474 miles per year. Typically, males do a bit more driving than females. Men drive close to 16,550 miles per year while women drive closer to 10,412, a difference of over 6,000 miles.
Annual Mileage by Age
You might think that young people would be clocking more miles than other age groups, but that’s not the case. Surprisingly, research reveals that drivers between the ages of 35 and 55 years of age drive more than any other age group with an average of 15,291 miles per year. People between 20 and 34 years old come in a close second, logging in 15,098 miles annually.
People in the 55 to 64 years of age group come in third place with an annual mileage average of 11,972. Those that are 65 and over are driving more than the previous generations of seniors, too, with a total of 7,646 miles per average.
Teen drivers between 16 and 19 years of age come in last place with just 7,624 miles on average. This also happens to be the group with the highest number of accidents, primarily caused by inexperience and distracted driving practices. Legal professionals like Easton & Easton see plenty of incidents among all age groups, though.
Average Miles Per State
Americans are driving more now than at previous times in history. However, that statistic is not spread evenly across the country. The state of Wyoming has the highest miles driven per driver annually at 21,821, which is higher than the national average. Meanwhile, the State of Alaska has the lowest annual mileage clocking in at just 9,915 miles per person on average.
Annual Mileage and Road Safety
Sadly, approximately 40,000 American lives are lost on average per year to car crashes. An astonishing 6 million motor vehicle accidents occur every year in the United States, but what contributes to such high numbers of accidents?
Roughly 22% of accidents (just over 1.2 million) involve dangerous weather conditions. So, you may want to say home until the storm passes. Speeding is a huge contributor of car-crash fatalities, accounting for 26% of deaths, and alcohol-impaired driving accounts for nearly 11,000 deaths per year. So, when in doubt, it’s better to err on the side of caution. Also, never driving while drunk should go without saying.
Wrapping things Up
Regardless of your gender, age, or location, you are probably driving more than you have in the past. The increase in drivers inevitably increases the chance for an auto related accident to occur. Be sure to exercise caution and protect yourself as well as your vehicle with proper insurance.
