Vehicle Crashes in Vermont, 2023
A summary of crashes occurring in the State of Vermont, 2023.
How often do crashes occur?
In 2023, Vermont's roads saw over 7,000 reported vehicle crashes.
That might sound like a lot, but 2023's reported crash count was less than the 8,000+ crashes in 2022 and less than the five-year average for 2018-2022 (over 10,000 crashes per year). There were over 5,300 property damage only crashes and over 1,600 injury crashes. There were 65 fatal crashes resulting in 71 fatalities in 2023.
How many people die each year on Vermont's roads?
In 2023, 71 people died in crashes on our roads.
While the total number of reported crashes might be decreasing, Vermont's roadway fatalities are increasing. In 2023, we saw over 8% more fatalities than the five-year average of 65.6 fatalities per year (2018-2022).
After seeing the five-year average of crashes decline between 2014 to 2018, the five-year average in fatalities has been increasing since 2019. The five-year average has increased from an average of 60.8 fatalities per year in 2019 to an average of 65.6 fatalities per year in 2023.
The solid red line represents the actual number of fatalities each year while the dashed gray line is the 5-year average number of fatalities for the preceding 5 years. Click on the graph to see the larger graphic.
Fatal crashes aren't the only crashes that occur.
There are three types of vehicle crashes - property damage only, injury crashes, and fatal crashes.
Property Damage Only crashes are those crashes where no injuries were reported. Not all property damage only crashes are reportable to the State of Vermont - crashes where total damages were below $3000 are not required to be reported to the state.
Injury crashes are those crashes where at least one injury was reported. We often split injury crashes into minor injuries and serious injuries to reflect different crash severities.
Fatal crashes are those crashes where at least one death was reported.
Sometimes, we also talk about major crashes. We consider any fatal crash and any injury crash resulting in serious injuries a major crash.
Who is crashing?
Why are they crashing?
Where are they crashing?
When are they crashing?
Other Resources
Check out these great resources below to learn more about motor vehicle crashes in Vermont and across the United States.
- Data and Analysis Section, Operations & Safety Bureau, VTrans
- The Data and Analysis Section uses information collected from a wide array of sources both in and out of Vermont, partners with other government agencies and research institutions, and conducts in-house studies to make our state's roads safer for everyone.
- New England 511 - Commuter Information
- Real-time traffic information for travelers so they are more aware of road conditions and can make informed decisions regarding alternative routes.
- Public Crash Data Query Tool
- Explore crash data across the state of Vermont in this map-based tool.
- State Highway Safety Office
- The Vermont State Highway Safety Office awards federal highway safety grant funds to local, state and non-profit agencies for projects to improve highway safety and reduce deaths and serious injuries due to crashes.
- Drive Well Vermont
- A statewide program aiming to improve road safety through education.
- Strategic Highway Safety Plan
- The State’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan (SHSP), a requirement of the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) under 23 U.S.C. § 148, is the framework for reducing major crashes on the State’s public highways.
- State Highway Safety Alliance
- A non-profit organization whose mission is to minimize the occurrence and severity of highway crashes, and related injuries and fatalities.
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
- Federal administration within the United States Department of Transportation which aims to reduce deaths, injuries and economic losses from motor vehicle crashes through enforcing vehicle performance standards and partnerships with state and local governments.
