The 2026 report shows that collision rates have begun to level off, rising just four percent in 2025, highlighting a shift after the post-pandemic surges. Most importantly, the rate of severe crashes per mile fell by four percent, and moderately severe collisions plummeted by 41 percent. The National Safety Council’s estimates reinforce this progress, noting a 12 percent reduction in motor vehicle fatalities in 2025, despite Americans driving a record number of miles.
However, less severe crashes are climbing, with minor collisions up five percent and low-severity incidents up 16 percent. The construction sector is faced with a 28 percent year-over-year spike in overall collisions, signaling an urgent need for industry-wide interventions.
Other findings include near collisions dropped 23 percent from last year’s all-time high; coaching efforts on device use surged 40 percent, reflecting intensified focus on distraction reduction; the top four riskiest U.S. roadways are concentrated near major airports, amplifying urban hazards; and July remains the deadliest month for drivers, underscoring seasonal risk patterns.
The full version of the Lytx 2026 Road Safety Report offers a deep dive into: industry-specific collision and near-miss data, emerging risky driving behaviors and national trends, the most dangerous states, metro areas, and roadways for U.S. drivers, the highest risk days and times to be on the road, and insights into driver coaching programs and actionable steps to reduce fleet risk
The data for Lytx’s 2026 Road Safety Report was sourced from its global driving database, which encompasses over 341 billion miles of data analyzed from 6.3 million drivers in over 90 countries. In 2025, Lytx identified and examined over 217 million new driving events and processed upwards of 126 billion minutes of video via Lytx event recorders.
