Jared:
Your numbers are accurate, but not in the context you put them in.
1.25 million people ARE killed each year (an average of 3500 per day) , and 50 million are injured, but those are WORLDWIDE numbers:
http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/global/index.html
The vast majority of the world's most dangerous countries for car crashes are all in Africa, but oddly enough, they also happen to be the countries that have the LOWEST deaths from cancer:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/02/a-map-of-the-worlds-most-dangerous-countries-for-drivers/283886/
In 2017, there were 37,133 deaths due to car crashes in America, an average of 102 per day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_vehicle_fatality_rate_in_U.S._by_year
We peaked at 54,589 in 1972, but the number of deaths has been a steady decline since that time due to stricter enforcement of seat belt laws and much safer vehicles. To give you an idea how far auto technology has come in our lifetime, it's informative to watch the 2009 Insurance Institute of Highway Safety video that crashed a big, heavy 1959 Chevrolet Bel Air into a 2009 Chevy Malibu:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_r5UJrxcck
However, we now have ANOTHER threat that is even worse. In 2016, more people died from opioid-related overdoses than car crashes. Unlike car crashes, deaths from drug overdoses have been on a steady INCREASE since 1990, when prescription drugs started to become problematic.
https://www.healthline.com/health-news/deaths-from-opioid-overdoses-higher-than-car-accident-fatalities#1
Both of the categories shown above pale when compared to death by firearms. In 2016, there were 27,394 homicides involving firearms, and 44,955 suicides, for a grand total of 72, 349.Like opioids, gun deaths have been on the rise for roughly the last 10 years. For obvious reason, both homicides and suicides are lower in states that have strict gun laws, and higher in states that have looser laws.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gun-death-statistics-cdc-study-says-gun-deaths-are-on-the-rise-after-years-of-decline/
Here's the gun death rate chart by state:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firearm_death_rates_in_the_United_States_by_state
Weather also plays a big factor in these statistics as well. The state that has the highest suicide rate (Alaska) also gets the lowest percentage (41%) of available sunlight. Hawaii is very low on the death scale due to a lot of sunshine (71%) and strict gun laws, and Arizona has a lot lower rate than Alaska, despite having very loose gun laws, due to the fact that it gets the most sunlight (85%)
https://www.currentresults.com/Weather/US/average-annual-state-sunshine.php