Driving
Driving in the United States Risk Calculator
Driving is common in the U.S., but it carries real risks of fatality and serious injury. This calculator estimates your expected risk over different distances, times of day, seat-belt use, alcohol impairment, distraction, and speeding, based on national crash data.
Your Inputs
Choose your driving conditions below:
Select your distance of travel: [{"distance_label":"100 miles","distance_miles":"100"},{"distance_label":"1,000 miles","distance_miles":"1000"},{"distance_label":"100,000 miles","distance_miles":"100000"}]
Driving at night increases risk because more crashes happen in fewer miles: [{"time_period":"Day","time_fatality_multiplier":"1.0","time_injury_multiplier":"1.0"},{"time_period":"Night","time_fatality_multiplier":"3.56","time_injury_multiplier":"1.47"}]
Wearing a seat belt greatly reduces the risk of death or serious injury: [{"belt_status":"Worn (car)","belt_fatality_multiplier":"1.0","belt_injury_multiplier":"1.0"},{"belt_status":"Not worn (car)","belt_fatality_multiplier":"1.82","belt_injury_multiplier":"2.0"},{"belt_status":"Worn (SUV\/van\/truck)","belt_fatality_multiplier":"1.0","belt_injury_multiplier":"1.0"},{"belt_status":"Not worn (SUV\/van\/truck)","belt_fatality_multiplier":"2.5","belt_injury_multiplier":"2.857"}]
Alcohol impairment raises crash risk substantially; select the driver’s Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) category: [{"alcohol_level":"BAC = 0.00","alcohol_multiplier":"1.0"},{"alcohol_level":"BAC \u2265 0.08","alcohol_multiplier":"4.0"},{"alcohol_level":"BAC \u2265 0.15","alcohol_multiplier":"12.0"}]
Distraction (especially visual-manual phone use) increases crash risk: [{"distraction_level":"Model driving (no distraction)","distraction_multiplier":"1.0"},{"distraction_level":"Any handheld cell use","distraction_multiplier":"3.6"},{"distraction_level":"Texting (visual-manual)","distraction_multiplier":"6.1"},{"distraction_level":"Dialing (visual-manual)","distraction_multiplier":"12.2"}]
Higher speeds increase both crash likelihood and severity: [{"speeding_status":"At or below limit","speeding_multiplier":"1.0"},{"speeding_status":"Above limit","speeding_multiplier":"2.0"}]
Your Results
Your estimated chance of being in a fatal crash is {{One_in_X:{result}}}.
Your estimated chance of being injured in a crash is {{One_in_X:{result}}}. Note: “Injuries” reflect police-reported injuries (not limited to hospitalizations).
Generated by ChatGPT-5