All rights reserved © 2026 Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers, Portland, OR. | Terms Of Use / Disclaimer | Privacy Policy | Sitemap
The information presented on this website is not meant as legal advice.
Car accidents are the second-most common cause of death after opioid overdoses. But what are the odds of dying in a car crash? The odds of dying in a car accident still fall behind the top four natural causes of death, including heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and COVID-19.
If you lose a loved one in a car accident in Portland, OR, the law may entitle you to compensation. Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers can review your case and evaluate any wrongful death claims you may have.
Contact our Portland personal injury attorney today at (503) 773-3333 for a free initial consultation to discuss your options.
How Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help If You Lost a Loved One in a Car Accident in Portland, OR
Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers has been representing accident victims in Portland, Oregon, since it was founded over 14 years ago. Our lead attorney has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for our deserving clients.
After an injury or death resulting from a crash, our Portland car accident attorney can provide the following:
- Free consultation to evaluate your claim for compensation
- More than 17 years of experience negotiating with insurers for fair settlements
- Fearless advocacy in court if the insurance company refuses to settle
If you lost a loved one in a fatal car accident, you need justice and compensation. Contact Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers for a free case evaluation to learn how we can help you pursue a claim against those responsible for your loved one’s death.
How Many Fatal Motor Vehicle Accidents Happen in Portland?
According to Oregon’s most recent Crash Facts report, Portland had 64 traffic fatalities in 2021. This number was unusually high. Over the five years between 2017 and 2021, Portland averaged only about 50 traffic fatalities per year. In just one year, between 2020 and 2021, traffic deaths jumped 18.5%.
But this number is slightly misleading. Of the fatalities in Portland in 2021, 25 of the accident victims were killed in pedestrian accidents. Another 16 motorists were killed in single-vehicle accidents. Only 23 accident victims were killed in multi-vehicle collisions.
Two Ways To View the Odds of Dying in a Car Crash
You can think about the odds of dying in a crash in a few ways. Two ways to calculate the odds of a fatal crash include:
Lifetime Odds
The National Safety Council (NSC) calculates and publishes an annual survey of the lifetime odds of death for various causes. These numbers are calculated based on your odds of dying of the specified cause at any time during your life.
In its most recent survey, the NSC calculated the lifetime odds of dying in a car accident as one in 93. To understand this number, you must keep a few facts in mind.
Odds Change With Age
First, this number represents your odds of dying in a car crash over your entire lifespan. As you get older, your odds change for a variety of reasons. This number includes the lower odds you have as a child without a driver’s license and the higher odds you have as a commuter in your 20s. As a result, it does not give you much information about your odds at any specific time.
Odds Aren’t Personalized
Second, the NSC’s lifetime odds number is not tailored to your unique circumstances. It does not account for your location, age, or gender. All these factors affect your odds of dying in a car wreck.
Still, this number provides some valuable insight. Since everyone dies, your lifetime odds allow you to compare various possible causes of death at some point in your life.
The Odds in Portland
Another way to think about your odds of dying in a car crash is to use Portland’s accident statistics. This will tell you the odds of dying if you were in an auto accident in 2021. This number will vary more widely from year to year than your lifetime odds. But it is also based on the true count of crashes and deaths.
According to the Crash Facts report, Portland had 6,430 total crashes in 2021, 64 of which caused at least one fatality. If you got into a crash in the city that year, you had a 0.99% chance that it would be a fatal crash.
You can drill down into this number a little bit further. 0.99% of crashes involved at least one death. It does not tell you the exact odds that you would have died. Portland crashes in 2021 involved 20,397 accident victims, 64 of whom died. This means you had a 0.31% chance of dying in a Portland car crash if you were in an accident that year.
Contact Our Portland Car Accident Attorney for a Free Case Assessment
A fatal car crash can have devastating effects on the survivors. Contact Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers for a free consultation to discuss your loved one’s fatal car accident and the wrongful death claim you may have against the at-fault driver.
We’re standing by to provide you with top-rated legal services. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation with our car accident lawyers in Portland. Our firm is located near you. We have an office in Portland at 101 SW Main St #1905, Portland, OR 97204. Find us with our GeoCoordinates: 45.51612408324096, -122.6754185
Car Accidents We Cover
- Distracted driving
- DUI accidents
- Hit-and-run crashes
- Head-on crashes
- Intersection crashes
- Lane splitting accidents
- Passenger negligence
- Rear-end crashes
- Road defects
- Speeding accidents
Car Accident Resources
