A State-by-State Look at Traffic Deaths

Nearly 33,000 Americans died on U.S. roadways last year, a figure that has gradually declined in recent years.

In certain states, however, fatality tallies are headed in the opposite direction. Updated data for 2014 published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last week provides a detailed portrait of the prevalence of various types of fatal crashes and where they’re occurring. 

Over the year, Vermont (-36 percent) and New Hampshire (-30 percent) experienced the largest declines in traffic fatalities. Meanwhile, Wyoming recorded 150 fatalities in 2014 after the number of lives lost there had plummeted to just 87 the prior year. New Mexico's 383 traffic fatalities similarly marked the deadliest year for the state since 2007.

Many factors can push a state’s traffic deaths up or down in a given year. One often-cited factor is the economy since roads are more filled with people commuting to and from work or traveling for pleasure in good economic times. Anne McCartt, senior vice president for research at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, points out that drops in the unemployment rate generally coincide with increases in traffic fatality rates.

State laws, too, play a role in preventing traffic deaths. Primary seatbelt laws, which enable law enforcement officers to ticket drivers absent any other infractions, promote seatbelt usage. The role of seatbelts in saving lives is well documented: Those not wearing seatbelts accounting for nearly half (49 percent) of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2014. “It’s those riskier drivers who aren’t buckling up where even small changes in seatbelt use can have a big effect on fatalities,” McCartt said.

Helmet laws have further been shown to be effective in curbing motorcyclist fatalities. A number of states also raised maximum speed limits in recent years, and NHTSA reports that speeding is a factor in one in four traffic deaths.

The weather in a state can also influence traffic deaths over the course of a year. Heavy snowfall may lead to more accidents, but fewer fatalities actually occur usually with not as many vehicles on roadways and motorists tending to drive slower, McCartt said. Warmer weather, on the other hand, tends to encourage more walking, biking and other modes of travel. 

Last year, national traffic fatality totals remained nearly unchanged from 2013.

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Early estimates for 2015 suggest traffic fatalities have ticked back up. NHTSA projects that 16,225 people were killed in the first half of this year, an 8.1 percent jump from 2014 that’s higher than any national tally over the first six months since 2009. In a news release, NHTSA cited job growth and lower fuel prices as two potential drivers of increased traffic deaths.

For a look at 2014 traffic deaths in each state, we’ve compiled data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System. State-level totals frequently fluctuate over one-year periods; it's necessary to review multiple years of data to detect longer-term trends. 

Pedestrian Fatalities

Across states, it was a particularly deadly year for pedestrians in Alabama. Ninety-six pedestrians died (up from 59 in 2013), the highest tally since at least 1994. Alaska (14 fatalities), New Mexico (74 fatalities) and Washington (75 fatalities) also experienced recent annual highs that increased more than 50 percent over the prior year.

Nineteen states recorded year-over-year declines, but most don’t appear to be indicative of any longer-term trends. One state that experienced marked improvement last year is Minnesota, where pedestrian fatalities fell by more than half.

State	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
North Dakota	9	1	7	9	7	4	6
Alaska	14	6	8	9	6	9	3
Alabama	96	59	77	79	61	64	68
Washington	75	49	71	64	61	59	63
New Mexico	74	49	61	39	33	39	39
Connecticut	47	36	43	26	46	26	47
New Jersey	168	129	156	142	139	158	135
Colorado	63	50	76	45	36	47	43
Wyoming	5	4	6	6	3	2	7
Wisconsin	45	37	45	57	52	38	53
Oregon	57	48	55	46	56	35	51
Florida	588	501	477	490	486	467	490
Virginia	88	75	97	73	73	74	75
Utah	32	28	28	30	28	19	32
Pennsylvania	161	147	163	147	145	134	137
Louisiana	105	97	119	90	77	108	107
Nevada	70	65	55	46	36	35	56
Tennessee	86	80	67	80	87	71	60
South Carolina	107	100	123	113	90	89	101
Hawaii	24	23	26	23	26	16	20
Kentucky	57	55	49	50	61	41	66
United States	4884	4735	4818	4457	4302	4109	4414
Massachusetts	70	68	82	69	68	46	76
Indiana	78	77	59	62	62	50	54
Ohio	86	85	113	104	93	85	99
Delaware	25	25	27	18	22	15	21
District of Columbia	9	9	7	8	13	14	9
Michigan	148	148	130	138	128	118	114
Mississippi	53	53	48	47	50	58	50
New Hampshire	12	12	8	5	9	8	7
Rhode Island	14	14	5	14	9	16	12
South Dakota	9	9	2	7	9	4	10
Vermont	5	5	10	3	4	5	1
California	697	701	653	633	601	567	620
North Carolina	172	173	200	161	169	146	160
Texas	476	480	482	425	349	350	435
Illinois	123	125	138	134	115	112	135
Iowa	19	20	20	25	18	21	17
Maryland	101	108	97	102	102	114	116
Arizona	141	151	122	147	145	118	121
Idaho	13	14	13	9	10	10	11
Georgia	163	176	167	130	168	152	147
Kansas	23	25	26	14	15	22	19
Missouri	65	73	84	75	55	68	63
Oklahoma	50	58	65	43	62	32	50
Maine	9	11	9	10	12	11	12
Arkansas	36	45	47	42	38	37	45
New York	263	335	303	287	303	308	297
Nebraska	9	12	15	7	8	9	5
West Virginia	19	28	31	20	13	21	13
Minnesota	15	32	38	39	35	42	25
Montana	10	24	8	15	8	15	11

SOURCE: NHTSA FARS data
Nationally, pedestrian deaths now account for 15 percent of all traffic deaths. 

Motorcyclist Fatalities

The number of motorcyclists killed declined for the third straight year in 2014. But the 4,586 fatalities still represent a significant increase from the 1990s, when there were fewer than 2,500 deaths annually.

In California, motorcyclist fatalities have increased each of the past five years to 519 deaths in 2014. States recording notably fewer deaths last year include Oklahoma, where fatalities declined from 92 in 2013 to 57, and Minnesota, which recorded about a quarter fewer fatalities.

As a share of all traffic fatalities, motorcyclist deaths were most common in Hawaii (26 percent), Connecticut (22 percent) and Nevada (22 percent).

NHTSA noted that motorcyclist fatalities are far higher in states without strong helmet laws. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia require all motorcyclists to wear helmets, while most other states maintain laws requiring only some motorcyclists to wear them. Warmer weather also likely plays a role as people spend more time riding bikes.

State	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Alabama	65	80	97	98	86	76	100
Alaska	8	9	9	10	9	7	8
Arizona	130	151	141	136	91	121	141
Arkansas	61	61	72	64	84	71	68
California	519	453	447	415	352	394	560
Colorado	94	87	79	78	82	88	98
Connecticut	55	53	48	37	52	45	63
Delaware	15	20	17	19	8	14	16
D.C.	3	3	4	4	1	4	8
Florida	478	485	492	464	396	413	556
Georgia	137	116	134	150	128	140	178
Hawaii	25	29	40	32	26	35	25
Idaho	25	25	22	17	28	34	29
Illinois	118	152	148	145	131	130	135
Indiana	124	114	152	118	111	111	131
Iowa	52	41	59	36	60	49	55
Kansas	48	35	48	45	40	47	46
Kentucky	86	87	106	71	96	86	101
Louisiana	83	86	78	80	74	103	81
Maine	11	14	24	15	19	24	18
Maryland	69	62	78	76	82	69	91
Massachusetts	43	40	56	40	61	55	42
Michigan	112	138	138	118	137	109	128
Minnesota	46	61	55	42	48	52	71
Mississippi	41	39	39	58	42	47	40
Missouri	91	74	104	82	95	87	107
Montana	23	35	30	20	25	26	36
Nebraska	20	14	22	23	14	15	19
Nevada	63	57	43	41	48	42	59
New Hampshire	17	24	29	14	28	21	30
New Jersey	62	56	77	93	70	65	82
New Mexico	46	41	64	47	41	40	49
New York	148	170	170	170	184	155	184
North Carolina	190	189	198	170	191	154	169
North Dakota	10	9	16	14	15	7	13
Ohio	136	132	162	165	170	166	213
Oklahoma	57	92	84	98	78	108	89
Oregon	46	34	51	40	38	53	48
Pennsylvania	185	182	210	199	223	204	239
Rhode Island	10	11	8	15	15	19	7
South Carolina	121	149	146	129	101	108	123
South Dakota	17	22	25	14	27	16	15
Tennessee	120	137	139	115	137	122	146
Texas	450	491	454	478	420	429	524
Utah	45	31	32	28	21	30	36
Vermont	7	7	11	8	6	8	7
Virginia	90	79	85	96	86	77	86
Washington	69	73	83	72	70	70	81
West Virginia	26	24	31	27	33	26	52
Wisconsin	73	85	117	88	105	84	89
Wyoming	16	9	12	16	33	13	20
United States	4586	4668	4986	4630	4518	4469	5312

Motorcycle totals include mopeds, off-road motorcycles and other motorized bikes.
SOURCE: NHTSA FARS data

Bicyclist Fatalities

In 2014, cyclist fatalities dipped 2.3 percent after climbing each of the previous three years.

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Nineteen cyclists were killed on Pennsylvania roadways, up from 11 in 2013 and 16 in 2012. States with significantly fewer cyclist fatalities last year from prior totals include Ohio and Oklahoma. Florida recorded 139 fatalities -- the highest nationally -- and far more than New York (46) and Texas (50).

While cyclists make up a very small share of all commuters, their numbers have grown across urban centers. Efforts around cyclist and pedestrian safety have gained traction in cities, some of which have launched "Vision Zero" and other initiatives to improve safety.

State	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	2008
Rhode Island	0	3	2	0	2	0	1
Vermont	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
D.C.	1	1	0	1	2	0	1
Idaho	2	3	2	0	4	7	2
Maine	2	4	1	0	1	0	4
Montana	2	1	1	1	0	1	3
Nebraska	2	0	0	2	2	3	0
South Dakota	2	0	0	1	2	0	0
West Virginia	2	0	1	0	3	0	2
Alaska	3	1	1	2	0	2	1
Connecticut	3	3	4	8	7	1	6
Delaware	3	1	4	0	3	6	6
New Hampshire	3	4	0	4	0	1	2
North Dakota	3	1	0	1	1	1	1
Hawaii	4	2	2	2	3	3	2
Iowa	4	3	3	5	8	2	5
Kentucky	4	3	6	2	7	5	6
Oklahoma	4	13	5	1	9	11	4
Wisconsin	4	10	11	12	9	7	9
Maryland	5	6	5	5	8	10	6
Minnesota	5	6	7	5	9	10	13
Missouri	5	4	6	1	7	2	3
New Mexico	5	4	7	4	8	3	7
Tennessee	5	8	8	5	4	9	7
Wyoming	5	0	0	1	0	2	1
Mississippi	6	6	4	7	4	10	4
Arkansas	7	4	6	6	2	5	5
Kansas	7	6	7	2	1	5	6
Oregon	7	3	10	15	7	8	10
Washington	7	11	12	11	6	9	9
Massachusetts	8	6	16	5	7	6	10
Nevada	8	7	3	4	6	6	7
Alabama	9	6	9	5	6	6	4
Utah	9	6	3	5	7	5	4
Colorado	10	12	13	8	8	10	12
New Jersey	11	14	14	17	13	13	20
Ohio	11	19	18	16	11	19	18
Indiana	12	14	15	11	13	7	18
Louisiana	12	14	24	18	11	13	11
Virginia	12	8	11	6	12	11	13
South Carolina	14	15	13	15	14	11	14
Georgia	19	28	17	14	18	21	20
North Carolina	19	22	27	25	23	16	32
Pennsylvania	19	11	16	11	21	15	8
Michigan	22	27	19	24	29	19	25
Illinois	27	30	29	27	24	19	27
Arizona	29	31	18	23	19	25	19
New York	46	40	45	57	36	29	42
Texas	50	48	56	45	42	48	53
California	128	141	129	116	100	99	109
Florida	139	133	124	126	83	107	126
United States	726	743	734	682	623	628	718

SOURCE: NHTSA FARS data

Total Traffic Fatalities

Select a state to view its traffic fatality data since 2000: