Chevrolet Silverado 2015 Fatality Profile: 342 Fatal Crashes, 51% Single-Vehicle

Background

The Chevrolet Silverado is among the highest-volume vehicles in the United States and consequently one of the most-represented in fatality statistics. This study profiles the 2015 model year specifically, drawing on every fatal crash recorded in NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) between 2014 and 2022 in which a 2015 Silverado was an involved vehicle.

Top-line numbers

• 342 fatal crashes
• 457 occupant fatalities
• 1.34 deaths per fatal crash
• 51 percent single-vehicle
• 15.03 percent involved alcohol
• 14.23 percent involved rollover
• 2.59 percent involved fire

What the distribution suggests

Single-vehicle dominance is the headline finding. In 51 percent of fatal Silverado crashes, no other vehicle is recorded as involved. That is consistent with the run-off-road and overturning patterns characteristic of full-size pickup truck fatalities — the high center of gravity and the predominantly rural-road operating environment compound each other.

A rollover rate of 14.23 percent supports the same picture. Across the same FARS window, full-size pickups in general show elevated rollover involvement compared to passenger sedans of comparable model age. The 2015 Silverado specifically lands inside that elevated range.

Alcohol involvement at 15.03 percent reflects the recorded presence of a drinking driver in the crash report, irrespective of fault assignment. It does not indicate that the Silverado driver was impaired in every case.

Severity

The deaths-per-crash ratio of 1.34 means that on average each fatal crash claimed slightly more than one life. By comparison, single-occupant fatal crashes would force the ratio toward 1.0; multi-passenger or multi-vehicle scenarios push it higher. The 1.34 figure for the 2015 Silverado is somewhat elevated for a pickup, reflecting its frequent use as a family or work-crew vehicle.

What this is not

This study is descriptive, not comparative. The figures here are the count of fatal events involving a 2015 Silverado regardless of fault assignment. They are not adjusted for how many 2015 Silverados were on the road in each year; that registration-denominated rate is a separate calculation we publish as the AutoIndex24 Vehicle Fatality Rate Index when registration data is available.

Single-vehicle and rollover percentages are inherent to the recorded event, not relative metrics.

Limitations

FARS records every fatal motor-vehicle crash on US public roads. It excludes private-property events, off-road accidents not on a trafficway, and any non-fatal outcomes — those would land in NHTSA's General Estimates System or the National Crash Investigation Sampling System.