Fatality Facts 2005

State by state

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Overview | Crash types | Alcohol involvement | Belt use | Rural versus urban

The number and type of motor vehicle crash deaths differ widely among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A state's population has an obvious effect on the number of motor vehicle deaths. Fatality rates per capita provide a way of examining motor vehicle deaths relative to a state's population, but many factors can affect these rates. Western states with large rural areas typically have high fatality rates because of such factors as higher speed traffic. Other factors include differing degrees of urbanization, amounts and types of travel, types of vehicles driven, rates of licensure, state traffic laws, emergency care capabilities, weather, and topography.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the US Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Overview

There were 39,189 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2005 in which 43,443 deaths occurred. This resulted in a national motor vehicle death rate of 15 deaths per 100,000 people. Motor vehicle death rates varied among states from a low of 7 deaths per 100,000 people in Massachusetts and New York, to a high of 33 deaths per 100,000 people in Wyoming.

 

Population, fatal motor vehicle crashes, motor vehicle crash deaths, and motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by state, 2005
State	Population	Fatal motor vehicle crashes	Motor vehicle crash deaths
		Num	Num	Rate
Alabama	4,557,808	1,011	1,131	24.8
Alaska	663,661	65	72	10.8
Arizona	5,939,292	1,036	1,177	19.8
Arkansas	2,779,154	590	648	23.3
California	36,132,147	3,846	4,329	12.0
Colorado	4,665,177	554	606	13.0
Connecticut	3,510,297	261	274	7.8
Delaware	843,524	118	134	15.9
District of Columbia	550,521	44	48	8.7
Florida	17,789,864	3,194	3,543	19.9
Georgia	9,072,576	1,582	1,729	19.1
Hawaii	1,275,194	129	140	11.0
Idaho	1,429,096	243	275	19.2
Illinois	12,763,371	1,230	1,361	10.7
Indiana	6,271,973	855	938	15.0
Iowa	2,966,334	398	450	15.2
Kansas	2,744,687	384	428	15.6
Kentucky	4,173,405	885	985	23.6
Louisiana	4,523,628	865	955	21.1
Maine	1,321,505	151	169	12.8
Maryland	5,600,388	577	614	11.0
Massachusetts	6,398,743	418	442	6.9
Michigan	10,120,860	1,030	1,129	11.2
Minnesota	5,132,799	500	559	10.9
Mississippi	2,921,088	840	931	31.9
Missouri	5,800,310	1,117	1,257	21.7
Montana	935,670	224	251	26.8
Nebraska	1,758,787	238	276	15.7
Nevada	2,414,807	379	427	17.7
New Hampshire	1,309,940	156	166	12.7
New Jersey	8,717,925	691	748	8.6
New Mexico	1,928,384	420	488	25.3
New York	19,254,630	1,327	1,429	7.4
North Carolina	8,683,242	1,405	1,534	17.7
North Dakota	636,677	105	123	19.3
Ohio	11,464,042	1,224	1,323	11.5
Oklahoma	3,547,884	710	802	22.6
Oregon	3,641,056	444	488	13.4
Pennsylvania	12,429,616	1,497	1,616	13.0
Rhode Island	1,076,189	80	87	8.1
South Carolina	4,255,083	980	1,093	25.7
South Dakota	775,933	158	186	24.0
Tennessee	5,962,959	1,160	1,270	21.3
Texas	22,859,968	3,104	3,504	15.3
Utah	2,469,585	235	282	11.4
Vermont	623,050	68	73	11.7
Virginia	7,567,465	876	947	12.5
Washington	6,287,759	577	647	10.3
West Virginia	1,816,856	347	374	20.6
Wisconsin	5,536,201	714	815	14.7
Wyoming	509,294	147	170	33.4
US total	296,410,404	39,189	43,443	14.7

In 2005 the types of motor vehicle crash deaths varied across states. For example, Wyoming had relatively low percentages of deaths involving passenger car occupants (31 percent) and pedestrians (4 percent) and a relatively high percentage of deaths involving occupants of SUVs and pickups (44 percent). In contrast, New Jersey had relatively high proportions of passenger car occupant deaths (50 percent) and pedestrian deaths (21 percent), and a relatively low percentage of deaths involving SUV or pickup occupants (13 percent). The highest percentage of motorcyclist deaths occurred in New Hampshire (25 percent), and pedestrian deaths were highest in the District of Columbia (33 percent).

 

Motor vehicle deaths by type and state, 2005
State	Passenger car occupants		Pickup and SUV occupants		Large truck occupants		Motorcyclists		Pedestrians		Total motor vehicle deaths*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	579	51	354	31	16	1	61	5	72	6	1,131
Alaska	34	47	19	26	1	1	4	6	7	10	72
Arizona	359	31	278	24	13	1	122	10	157	13	1,177
Arkansas	273	42	220	34	25	4	63	10	37	6	648
California	1,954	45	855	20	36	1	462	11	742	17	4,329
Colorado	262	43	175	29	15	2	87	14	48	8	606
Connecticut	138	50	41	15	5	2	42	15	34	12	274
Delaware	76	57	19	14	2	1	19	14	11	8	134
District of Columbia	17	35	4	8	0	0	6	12	16	33	48
Florida	1,416	40	760	21	46	1	448	13	576	16	3,543
Georgia	765	44	554	32	29	2	143	8	150	9	1,729
Hawaii	47	34	22	16	0	0	24	17	35	25	140
Idaho	117	43	105	38	9	3	25	9	9	3	275
Illinois	695	51	255	19	29	2	157	12	164	12	1,361
Indiana	441	47	236	25	29	3	102	11	63	7	938
Iowa	241	54	107	24	6	1	44	10	24	5	450
Kansas	190	44	141	33	11	3	35	8	24	6	428
Kentucky	496	50	269	27	18	2	87	9	54	5	985
Louisiana	371	39	325	34	20	2	75	8	109	11	955
Maine	91	54	44	26	1	1	15	9	9	5	169
Maryland	288	47	99	16	9	1	84	14	102	17	614
Massachusetts	202	46	81	18	1	0	55	12	76	17	442
Michigan	557	49	227	20	5	0	122	11	137	12	1,129
Minnesota	282	50	131	23	12	2	55	10	44	8	559
Mississippi	464	50	294	32	18	2	39	4	72	8	931
Missouri	631	50	372	30	21	2	88	7	88	7	1,257
Montana	84	33	112	45	3	1	27	11	13	5	251
Nebraska	140	51	93	34	5	2	17	6	8	3	276
Nevada	173	41	98	23	13	3	52	12	63	15	427
New Hampshire	65	39	40	24	2	1	42	25	5	3	166
New Jersey	372	50	97	13	21	3	61	8	154	21	748
New Mexico	172	35	183	38	13	3	37	8	61	12	488
New York	634	44	179	13	24	2	161	11	321	22	1,429
North Carolina	737	48	390	25	26	2	135	9	164	11	1,534
North Dakota	48	39	45	37	2	2	6	5	9	7	123
Ohio	742	56	239	18	18	1	177	13	95	7	1,323
Oklahoma	350	44	266	33	25	3	75	9	50	6	802
Oregon	210	43	139	28	6	1	48	10	48	10	488
Pennsylvania	853	53	297	18	29	2	197	12	159	10	1,616
Rhode Island	45	52	10	11	0	0	14	16	14	16	87
South Carolina	544	50	279	26	21	2	97	9	98	9	1,093
South Dakota	83	45	52	28	5	3	22	12	14	8	186
Tennessee	616	49	369	29	21	2	128	10	70	6	1,270
Texas	1,375	39	1,090	31	73	2	354	10	419	12	3,504
Utah	119	42	91	32	10	4	23	8	20	7	282
Vermont	43	59	11	15	0	0	14	19	3	4	73
Virginia	456	48	253	27	25	3	69	7	88	9	947
Washington	312	48	142	22	11	2	73	11	71	11	647
West Virginia	170	45	106	28	9	2	33	9	23	6	374
Wisconsin	430	53	192	24	13	2	93	11	44	5	815
Wyoming	52	31	74	44	7	4	20	12	7	4	170
US total	19,811	46	10,834	25	759	2	4,439	10	4,881	11	43,443
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Nationwide 49 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2005 occurred in single-vehicle crashes. The highest proportions of single-vehicle crashes occurred in Montana (72 percent), the District of Columbia (71 percent), North Dakota (65 percent), and Wyoming (65 percent).

 

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by crash type and state, 2005
State	Single-vehicle		Multiple-vehicle		All crashes*
	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	486	51	465	49	951
Alaska	22	41	32	59	54
Arizona	306	47	343	53	652
Arkansas	253	50	257	50	510
California	1,378	48	1,505	52	2,883
Colorado	242	55	202	45	444
Connecticut	107	59	75	41	182
Delaware	33	34	62	65	96
District of Columbia	15	71	6	29	21
Florida	936	42	1,290	58	2,228
Georgia	625	47	713	53	1,338
Hawaii	31	45	38	55	69
Idaho	135	60	90	40	225
Illinois	436	45	533	55	969
Indiana	345	49	362	51	707
Iowa	153	43	199	57	352
Kansas	155	46	182	54	337
Kentucky	400	51	381	49	781
Louisiana	337	48	369	52	707
Maine	74	55	61	45	135
Maryland	167	42	229	58	396
Massachusetts	165	56	132	44	297
Michigan	321	40	491	60	812
Minnesota	183	43	244	57	427
Mississippi	462	59	317	41	779
Missouri	524	52	489	48	1,013
Montana	141	72	56	28	197
Nebraska	118	50	119	50	237
Nevada	124	44	155	56	279
New Hampshire	60	56	47	44	107
New Jersey	225	46	259	54	484
New Mexico	219	60	146	40	365
New York	428	51	407	49	839
North Carolina	572	50	566	50	1,139
North Dakota	62	65	32	34	95
Ohio	447	44	557	55	1,005
Oklahoma	328	52	297	48	625
Oregon	168	47	192	53	360
Pennsylvania	574	49	592	51	1,166
Rhode Island	37	64	21	36	58
South Carolina	467	56	374	44	841
South Dakota	84	61	53	39	137
Tennessee	539	53	469	47	1,008
Texas	1,185	47	1,329	53	2,514
Utah	114	51	108	49	222
Vermont	28	52	26	48	54
Virginia	420	58	299	42	720
Washington	217	47	246	53	463
West Virginia	147	51	139	49	286
Wisconsin	319	51	305	49	627
Wyoming	84	65	45	35	129
US total	15,398	49	15,906	51	31,322
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol involvement

Some states report blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for only a small percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. If BAC is missing for a driver, it is imputed by the US Department of Transportation’s multiple imputation model.¹ However, state BAC information is most precise in states that report a high percentage of BACs. In the following table, estimated percentages of fatally injured drivers with BACs at or above 0.08 percent are shown only for states in which BAC reporting was 70 percent or higher. Estimated percentages are based on known BAC when available and imputed BAC for the remaining drivers.

For the nation in 2005, BAC was reported for 64 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. Reporting rates varied by state. Hawaii reported BACs for 96 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers, while Alabama reported BACs for 10 percent. Among states with reporting rates of at least 70 percent, the District of Columbia (61 percent) had the highest estimated percentage of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher, and Nebraska and New Jersey (both 26 percent) had the lowest.

 

Estimated number and percent of fatally-injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs ≥ 0.08 percent by state, 2005
State	Passenger vehicle drivers
	Known BAC results		Deaths	Estimated deaths with BACs ≥ 0.08
	Num	%		Num	%
Alabama	67	10	701	*	*
Alaska	32	86	37	14	37
Arizona	200	49	405	*	*
Arkansas	223	57	389	*	*
California	1,528	85	1,799	573	32
Colorado	52	17	300	*	*
Connecticut	83	65	128	*	*
Delaware	39	58	67	*	*
District of Columbia	12	86	14	9	61
Florida	923	62	1,500	*	*
Georgia	459	47	971	*	*
Hawaii	48	96	50	26	52
Idaho	108	69	157	*	*
Illinois	583	88	664	218	33
Indiana	316	61	517	*	*
Iowa	93	37	250	*	*
Kansas	112	46	245	*	*
Kentucky	401	69	577	*	*
Louisiana	139	27	520	*	*
Maine	83	94	88	29	32
Maryland	246	87	282	92	33
Massachusetts	96	42	231	*	*
Michigan	376	66	570	*	*
Minnesota	162	53	307	*	*
Mississippi	279	49	567	*	*
Missouri	624	85	737	246	33
Montana	113	86	132	60	46
Nebraska	139	85	164	42	26
Nevada	143	73	195	60	31
New Hampshire	75	90	83	25	30
New Jersey	298	87	342	88	26
New Mexico	205	91	225	76	34
New York	348	59	593	*	*
North Carolina	706	85	826	240	29
North Dakota	64	88	73	33	45
Ohio	636	87	730	232	32
Oklahoma	362	82	439	134	30
Oregon	230	89	259	70	27
Pennsylvania	685	80	858	304	35
Rhode Island	32	84	38	19	50
South Carolina	452	76	598	226	38
South Dakota	73	82	89	35	40
Tennessee	200	27	751	*	*
Texas	717	43	1,662	*	*
Utah	70	55	127	*	*
Vermont	38	95	40	14	35
Virginia	318	59	540	*	*
Washington	271	87	313	124	40
West Virginia	165	81	204	63	31
Wisconsin	390	89	436	177	41
Wyoming	77	86	90	37	41
US total	14,091	64	21,880	7,117	33
*Cells with missing data have insufficient reporting of BAC results by state for reliably estimating percent of fatally injured drivers with BACs ≥ 0.08 percent

Belt use

When examining belt use among fatally injured motor vehicle occupants, it is important to note that percentages will be lower than observed belt use because unbelted occupants are more likely than belted occupants to be fatally injured.

The percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants who were belted in 2005 varied by state. North Dakota and South Dakota (both 23 percent) had the lowest percentage of fatally injured belted occupants, and Oregon had the highest (63 percent). For the nation, 41 percent of fatally injured occupants were belted.

 

Number and percent of fatally-injured passenger vehicle occupants by belt use and state, 2005
State	Belted		Unbelted		Unknown		Total
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	359	38	552	58	40	4	951
Alaska	27	50	22	41	5	9	54
Arizona	228	35	351	54	73	11	652
Arkansas	147	29	309	61	54	11	510
California	1,601	56	967	34	315	11	2,883
Colorado	188	42	250	56	6	1	444
Connecticut	71	39	86	47	25	14	182
Delaware	41	43	52	54	3	3	96
District of Columbia	8	38	13	62	0	0	21
Florida	864	39	1,261	57	103	5	2,228
Georgia	515	38	668	50	155	12	1,338
Hawaii	29	42	30	43	10	14	69
Idaho	94	42	126	56	5	2	225
Illinois	427	44	450	46	92	9	969
Indiana	294	42	331	47	82	12	707
Iowa	164	47	137	39	51	14	352
Kansas	101	30	209	62	27	8	337
Kentucky	273	35	506	65	2	<1	781
Louisiana	245	35	371	52	91	13	707
Maine	48	36	64	47	23	17	135
Maryland	206	52	176	44	14	4	396
Massachusetts	84	28	170	57	43	14	297
Michigan	450	55	269	33	93	11	812
Minnesota	184	43	210	49	33	8	427
Mississippi	206	26	572	73	1	<1	779
Missouri	312	31	610	60	91	9	1,013
Montana	52	26	141	72	4	2	197
Nebraska	66	28	145	61	26	11	237
Nevada	120	43	137	49	22	8	279
New Hampshire	31	29	73	68	3	3	107
New Jersey	248	51	221	46	15	3	484
New Mexico	174	48	184	50	7	2	365
New York	409	49	328	39	102	12	839
North Carolina	519	46	521	46	99	9	1,139
North Dakota	22	23	67	71	6	6	95
Ohio	420	42	583	58	2	<1	1,005
Oklahoma	248	40	372	60	5	<1	625
Oregon	228	63	108	30	24	7	360
Pennsylvania	372	32	637	55	157	13	1,166
Rhode Island	20	34	37	64	1	2	58
South Carolina	250	30	547	65	44	5	841
South Dakota	32	23	92	67	13	9	137
Tennessee	363	36	565	56	80	8	1,008
Texas	1,281	51	1,182	47	51	2	2,514
Utah	98	44	123	55	1	<1	222
Vermont	24	44	27	50	3	6	54
Virginia	238	33	447	62	35	5	720
Washington	237	51	206	44	20	4	463
West Virginia	103	36	171	60	12	4	286
Wisconsin	220	35	357	57	50	8	627
Wyoming	43	33	85	66	1	<1	129
US total	12,984	41	16,118	51	2,220	7	31,322

Rural versus urban

Sixty-one percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2005 occurred in rural areas. The state with the greatest proportion of passenger vehicle occupant deaths on rural roads was North Dakota (95 percent).

 

Number and percent of fatally-injured passenger vehicle occupants by land use and state, 2005
State	Urban		Rural		Unknown		Total
	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	277	29	658	69	16	2	951
Alaska	14	26	40	74	0	0	54
Arizona	307	47	345	53	0	0	652
Arkansas	92	18	418	82	0	0	510
California	1,488	52	1,395	48	0	0	2,883
Colorado	187	42	257	58	0	0	444
Connecticut	144	79	37	20	1	1	182
Delaware	26	27	62	65	8	8	96
District of Columbia	21	100	0	0	0	0	21
Florida	1,122	50	943	42	163	7	2,228
Georgia	420	31	632	47	286	21	1,338
Hawaii	26	38	43	62	0	0	69
Idaho	38	17	187	83	0	0	225
Illinois	483	50	483	50	3	<1	969
Indiana	290	41	417	59	0	0	707
Iowa	30	9	322	91	0	0	352
Kansas	65	19	272	81	0	0	337
Kentucky	178	23	603	77	0	0	781
Louisiana	203	29	501	71	3	<1	707
Maine	4	3	126	93	5	4	135
Maryland	218	55	178	45	0	0	396
Massachusetts	271	91	26	9	0	0	297
Michigan	314	39	498	61	0	0	812
Minnesota	100	23	327	77	0	0	427
Mississippi	130	17	649	83	0	0	779
Missouri	240	24	773	76	0	0	1,013
Montana	21	11	176	89	0	0	197
Nebraska	50	21	187	79	0	0	237
Nevada	148	53	131	47	0	0	279
New Hampshire	18	17	89	83	0	0	107
New Jersey	387	80	97	20	0	0	484
New Mexico	72	20	292	80	1	<1	365
New York	421	50	418	50	0	0	839
North Carolina	309	27	830	73	0	0	1,139
North Dakota	5	5	90	95	0	0	95
Ohio	346	34	659	66	0	0	1,005
Oklahoma	139	22	486	78	0	0	625
Oregon	78	22	282	78	0	0	360
Pennsylvania	518	44	643	55	5	<1	1,166
Rhode Island	51	88	7	12	0	0	58
South Carolina	82	10	759	90	0	0	841
South Dakota	13	9	124	91	0	0	137
Tennessee	95	9	138	14	775	77	1,008
Texas	922	37	1,589	63	3	<1	2,514
Utah	69	31	153	69	0	0	222
Vermont	8	15	46	85	0	0	54
Virginia	232	32	487	68	1	<1	720
Washington	135	29	326	70	2	<1	463
West Virginia	53	19	233	81	0	0	286
Wisconsin	183	29	444	71	0	0	627
Wyoming	14	11	115	89	0	0	129
US total	11,057	35	18,993	61	1,272	4	31,322

References

¹Subramanian, R. 2002. Transitioning to multiple imputation — a new method to impute missing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) values in FARS. Report no. DOT HS-809-403. Washington, DC: US Department of Transportation.