Police Chase Statistics
Compiled from NHTSA FARS, JAMA Network Open, the San Francisco Chronicle's "Fast and Fatal" database, and PERF · Updated August 2026 · License: CC-BY 4.0 (cite NoChaseLaw.com)
Police vehicle pursuits kill hundreds of people in the US every year — roughly two people every day by the most complete count — and about one in six of the dead are bystanders with no connection to the chase. These numbers are why restrictive pursuit policies exist. Every statistic below states its source and data year; federal data is known to undercount, which is also documented below.
577 (2022)
NHTSA FARS data recorded 577 deaths in police pursuits nationwide in 2022, the highest annual pursuit death toll on record.
Source: NHTSA (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) · #
8%+ increase (2022 vs 2021)
2022 pursuit deaths were up more than 8% over 2021 per NHTSA FARS data.
Source: NHTSA (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) · #
412 (0.1% of traffic deaths) (2021)
NHTSA FARS attributed 412 traffic deaths to police pursuits in 2021, about 0.1% of all U.S. traffic fatalities that year.
Source: NHTSA (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) · #
307 → 577 (~90% rise) (1982-2022)
Pursuit deaths recorded by NHTSA rose roughly 90% from 307 in 1982 to 577 in 2022, the full span FARS has tracked pursuit involvement.
Source: NHTSA (Fatality Analysis Reporting System) · #
3,336 (2017-2022)
The San Francisco Chronicle's 'Fast and Fatal' investigation documented at least 3,336 people killed in U.S. police vehicle pursuits from 2017 through 2022, averaging nearly two deaths a day.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, "Fast and Fatal" · #
662 undercounted deaths (2017-2021)
The Chronicle found NHTSA's public FARS count failed to record at least 662 pursuit-related deaths that occurred from 2017 through 2021, indicating official federal data undercounts the toll.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, "Fast and Fatal" · #
551 bystander deaths (~16.5% of total) (2017-2022)
Of the 3,336 people killed in U.S. police pursuits from 2017-2022 identified by the Chronicle, 551 were bystanders with no connection to the fleeing vehicle.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle, "Fast and Fatal" · #
4,415 deaths; +10.13% AAPC (2017-2021)
A JAMA Network Open study using the Chronicle's Fatal Police Pursuits Database found 4,415 pursuit-related fatalities nationally from 2017-2021, with a 10.13% average annual percent increase.
Source: JAMA Network Open, "National and Regional Trends in Police Pursuit Fatalities in the US" · #
2,242 deaths; +17.51% AAPC (2017-2021)
The same JAMA Network Open study found the South had both the most pursuit deaths (2,242) and the steepest increase (17.51% average annual percent change) of any U.S. region, 2017-2021.
Source: JAMA Network Open, "National and Regional Trends in Police Pursuit Fatalities in the US" · #
91% nonviolent origin (42% traffic infraction) (2008 study (pursuits reviewed pre-2008))
A 2008 International Association of Chiefs of Police study of nearly 8,000 high-speed pursuits found 91% were initiated over nonviolent offenses -- 42% simple traffic infractions, 18% stolen vehicles, 15% suspected DUI.
Source: International Association of Chiefs of Police, cited by The Washington Post · #
0.3% of all police stops (2012-2013 (BJS report))
Bureau of Justice Statistics data on police-public contacts found pursuits account for only about 0.3% of all police stops nationally, underscoring how rare but disproportionately deadly they are.
Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics, "Police Vehicle Pursuits" · #
11 → 2 deaths (>80% drop) (2021 law, compared pre/post periods)
After Washington state's 2021 law (HB 1054) restricted when officers can pursue, vehicle-pursuit deaths fell from 11 to 2 across matched 466-day before/after periods, an over-80% drop.
Source: University of Washington (analysis by Martina Morris, using Fatal Encounters/WaPo police-shooting data) · #
2-condition pursuit standard (recommendation) (2023)
PERF's 2023 report recommends pursuits be initiated only when a violent crime has already occurred or there is an immediate risk of one, arguing current practice puts the public at needless risk over minor offenses.
Source: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), "Vehicular Pursuits" · #
~1 death/day (national average) (long-run average, cited through 2023)
National pursuit-fatality tracking has long put the toll at roughly one person killed per day in U.S. police pursuits, a figure widely cited by law enforcement and pursuit-safety researchers.
Source: FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (citing PursuitSAFETY-tracked data) · #
Data caveats
Figures diverge by source because they use different methodologies: NHTSA/FARS only flags whether a fatal crash involved a pursuit (not how much the pursuit contributed), and its own 2022 total is cited inconsistently as 577 vs. 586 in secondary reporting -- treat as approximate. The SF Chronicle's Fast and Fatal database (2017-2022) and the JAMA Network Open academic reanalysis of the same database (2017-2021) both run well above NHTSA's official public counts, and the Chronicle explicitly documented NHTSA undercounting by at least 662 deaths in 2017-2021 alone -- so NHTSA figures should be framed as a floor, not a ceiling. Older widely-repeated bystander-share figures (~25-30%, various non-primary aggregator sites) could not be traced to a checkable primary dataset and were excluded; the SF Chronicle's directly-sourced bystander share for 2017-2022 (551/3,336 ≈ 16.5%) is used instead. The BJS pursuit report is dated (2012-2013 data, no more recent BJS national pursuit survey exists as of this research). No verifiable primary-sourced statistic specific to motorcycle fatalities in police pursuits was found -- claims circulating on SEO/aggregator stat pages (gitnux, wifitalents, zipdo, worldmetrics, etc.) could not be traced to NHTSA, BJS, or academic primary sources and were deliberately excluded rather than repeated. Annual injury-count figures (commonly cited as ~10,000/year) also lack a traceable primary source and were omitted for the same reason.
Cite this page
NoChaseLaw.com, "Police Chase Statistics," August 2026 — https://nochaselaw.com/police-chase-statistics/. Free to reuse with attribution (CC-BY 4.0). For per-state pursuit rules, see pursuit laws by state.