May 11, 2018—The U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released new data that shows new model year vehicles are the safest on U.S. roads.

The analysis looked at fatal crashes involving passenger cars, SUVs and pickup trucks, and the data showed that a greater proportion of deaths among passengers in fatal crashes occurred within older model year vehicles.

The results showed that the percentage of occupants fatally injured was higher among occupants of older model year vehicles, from 55 percent for model year 1984 and earlier vehicles to 26 percent for model year 2013 to 2017 vehicles.