Fatality Facts 2008

State by state

Overview | Crash types | Alcohol involvement | Restraint 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. However, many factors can affect these rates, including amounts and types of travel, types of vehicles driven, higher speed traffic, rates of licensure, state traffic laws, emergency care capabilities, weather, and topography.

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

Overview

There were 34,017 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2008 in which 37,261 deaths occurred. This resulted in a national motor vehicle death rate of 12.3 deaths per 100,000 people. Motor vehicle death rates varied among states from a low of 5.6 deaths per 100,000 people in Massachusetts, to a high of 29.8 deaths per 100,000 people in Wyoming.

States with lowest and highest rates of motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people, 2008

Population, fatal motor vehicle crashes, crash deaths, and crash deaths per 100,000 people by state, 2008
State	Population	Fatal crashes	Deaths
State	Population	Num	Num	Death rate
Alabama	4,661,900	888	966	20.7
Alaska	686,293	55	62	9.0
Arizona	6,500,180	842	937	14.4
Arkansas	2,855,390	552	600	21.0
California	36,756,666	3,145	3,434	9.3
Colorado	4,939,456	473	548	11.1
Connecticut	3,501,252	243	264	7.5
Delaware	873,092	105	121	13.9
District of Columbia	591,833	32	34	5.7
Florida	18,328,340	2,760	2,978	16.2
Georgia	9,685,744	1,368	1,493	15.4
Hawaii	1,288,198	102	107	8.3
Idaho	1,523,816	212	232	15.2
Illinois	12,901,563	950	1,043	8.1
Indiana	6,376,792	721	814	12.8
Iowa	3,002,555	368	412	13.7
Kansas	2,802,134	348	385	13.7
Kentucky	4,269,245	752	826	19.3
Louisiana	4,410,796	817	912	20.7
Maine	1,316,456	144	155	11.8
Maryland	5,633,597	538	591	10.5
Massachusetts	6,497,967	337	363	5.6
Michigan	10,003,422	915	980	9.8
Minnesota	5,220,393	421	456	8.7
Mississippi	2,938,618	711	783	26.6
Missouri	5,911,605	845	960	16.2
Montana	967,440	208	229	23.7
Nebraska	1,783,432	188	208	11.7
Nevada	2,600,167	304	324	12.5
New Hampshire	1,315,809	128	139	10.6
New Jersey	8,682,661	555	590	6.8
New Mexico	1,984,356	324	366	18.4
New York	19,490,297	1,167	1,231	6.3
North Carolina	9,222,414	1,324	1,433	15.5
North Dakota	641,481	97	104	16.2
Ohio	11,485,910	1,098	1,190	10.4
Oklahoma	3,642,361	670	749	20.6
Oregon	3,790,060	369	416	11.0
Pennsylvania	12,448,279	1,358	1,468	11.8
Rhode Island	1,050,788	63	65	6.2
South Carolina	4,479,800	840	920	20.5
South Dakota	804,194	107	119	14.8
Tennessee	6,214,888	950	1,035	16.7
Texas	24,326,974	3,031	3,382	13.9
Utah	2,736,424	244	275	10.0
Vermont	621,270	66	73	11.8
Virginia	7,769,089	763	824	10.6
Washington	6,549,224	481	521	8.0
West Virginia	1,814,468	338	380	20.9
Wisconsin	5,627,967	561	605	10.7
Wyoming	532,668	139	159	29.8
US total	304,059,724	34,017	37,261	12.3

In 2008, the types of motor vehicle crash deaths varied across states. For example, New Mexico had the lowest percentage of deaths involving car occupants (28 percent) and the highest percentage of deaths involving occupants of SUVs and pickups (40 percent). In contrast, New York had relatively high proportions of car occupant deaths (43 percent) and pedestrian deaths (24 percent), and a relatively low percentage of deaths involving SUV or pickup occupants (11 percent). The highest percentage of motorcyclist deaths occurred in New Hampshire (22 percent), and the percentage of pedestrian deaths was highest in the District of Columbia (26 percent).

Motor vehicle crash deaths by type and state, 2008
State	Car occupants		Pickup and SUV occupants		Large truck occupants		Motorcyclists		Pedestrians		Total motor vehicle deaths*
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	438	45	298	31	25	3	98	10	66	7	966
Alaska	27	44	15	24	1	2	8	13	3	5	62
Arizona	300	32	260	28	17	2	137	15	120	13	937
Arkansas	234	39	205	34	18	3	64	11	45	8	600
California	1,366	40	629	18	32	1	548	16	620	18	3,434
Colorado	203	37	169	31	10	2	95	17	44	8	548
Connecticut	124	47	37	14	2	1	55	21	37	14	264
Delaware	47	39	28	23	0	0	16	13	21	17	121
District of Columbia	14	41	0	0	0	0	7	21	9	26	34
Florida	1,047	35	659	22	32	1	534	18	490	16	2,978
Georgia	638	43	437	29	31	2	169	11	146	10	1,493
Hawaii	37	35	20	19	1	1	23	21	20	19	107
Idaho	86	37	83	36	11	5	28	12	11	5	232
Illinois	472	45	233	22	10	1	129	12	135	13	1,043
Indiana	399	49	168	21	11	1	114	14	54	7	814
Iowa	195	47	110	27	9	2	51	12	17	4	412
Kansas	167	43	133	35	6	2	45	12	19	5	385
Kentucky	370	45	224	27	19	2	97	12	67	8	826
Louisiana	355	39	304	33	25	3	78	9	106	12	912
Maine	78	50	32	21	6	4	18	12	12	8	155
Maryland	259	44	95	16	6	1	82	14	116	20	591
Massachusetts	175	48	51	14	2	1	39	11	75	21	363
Michigan	436	44	221	23	6	1	123	13	114	12	980
Minnesota	205	45	98	21	9	2	69	15	26	6	456
Mississippi	340	43	250	32	13	2	38	5	50	6	783
Missouri	452	47	288	30	14	1	99	10	63	7	960
Montana	79	34	85	37	5	2	36	16	11	5	229
Nebraska	99	48	73	35	5	2	19	9	5	2	208
Nevada	102	31	92	28	0	0	56	17	56	17	324
New Hampshire	67	48	28	20	1	1	30	22	7	5	139
New Jersey	236	40	88	15	12	2	81	14	135	23	590
New Mexico	102	28	148	40	12	3	45	12	39	11	366
New York	530	43	135	11	7	1	181	15	294	24	1,231
North Carolina	687	48	333	23	21	1	141	10	160	11	1,433
North Dakota	39	38	37	36	4	4	12	12	6	6	104
Ohio	560	47	228	19	19	2	212	18	98	8	1,190
Oklahoma	285	38	279	37	23	3	84	11	51	7	749
Oregon	172	41	116	28	4	1	48	12	51	12	416
Pennsylvania	695	47	309	21	25	2	235	16	137	9	1,468
Rhode Island	33	51	11	17	0	0	7	11	12	18	65
South Carolina	400	43	248	27	18	2	111	12	100	11	920
South Dakota	53	45	39	33	1	1	15	13	9	8	119
Tennessee	479	46	290	28	16	2	143	14	60	6	1,035
Texas	1,173	35	1,050	31	76	2	512	15	416	12	3,382
Utah	102	37	76	28	7	3	34	12	32	12	275
Vermont	39	53	24	33	1	1	7	10	1	1	73
Virginia	414	50	191	23	17	2	82	10	76	9	824
Washington	243	47	107	21	9	2	78	15	63	12	521
West Virginia	156	41	132	35	5	1	51	13	13	3	380
Wisconsin	298	49	120	20	5	1	87	14	53	9	605
Wyoming	59	37	61	38	8	5	20	13	7	4	159
US total	15,566	42	9,347	25	617	2	5,091	14	4,378	12	37,261
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Nationwide, 53 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2008 occurred in single-vehicle crashes. The highest proportions of single-vehicle crash deaths occurred in Rhode Island (66 percent) and South Carolina (64 percent).

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by crash type and state, 2008
State	Single-vehicle		Multiple-vehicle		All crashes*
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	448	59	305	41	753
Alaska	16	37	27	63	43
Arizona	317	54	268	46	585
Arkansas	267	60	179	40	447
California	1,040	51	992	49	2,035
Colorado	191	51	187	49	378
Connecticut	99	61	63	39	163
Delaware	34	44	44	56	78
District of Columbia	5	36	9	64	14
Florida	866	50	866	50	1,733
Georgia	547	50	542	50	1,089
Hawaii	31	54	26	46	57
Idaho	105	61	67	39	172
Illinois	371	51	351	49	723
Indiana	273	46	315	54	588
Iowa	145	46	168	54	313
Kansas	161	53	142	47	303
Kentucky	326	54	273	46	599
Louisiana	371	55	299	45	670
Maine	57	52	53	48	110
Maryland	162	44	204	56	366
Massachusetts	145	63	84	37	229
Michigan	304	45	368	55	672
Minnesota	138	44	175	56	314
Mississippi	411	63	241	37	652
Missouri	415	55	336	45	751
Montana	105	63	62	37	167
Nebraska	78	45	97	55	175
Nevada	98	50	96	49	195
New Hampshire	51	53	46	47	97
New Jersey	170	51	162	49	332
New Mexico	158	63	94	37	252
New York	340	50	341	50	681
North Carolina	579	56	455	44	1,034
North Dakota	48	62	29	38	77
Ohio	395	48	420	51	816
Oklahoma	300	53	270	47	570
Oregon	172	59	119	41	291
Pennsylvania	515	50	507	50	1,022
Rhode Island	29	66	15	34	44
South Carolina	423	64	234	36	659
South Dakota	58	63	34	37	92
Tennessee	457	59	321	41	778
Texas	1,110	49	1,147	51	2,257
Utah	97	54	82	46	179
Vermont	32	51	31	49	63
Virginia	379	61	238	39	617
Washington	175	50	175	50	352
West Virginia	186	63	108	37	295
Wisconsin	214	50	211	50	425
Wyoming	68	56	53	44	121
US total	13,482	53	11,931	47	25,428
*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, 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 2008, BAC was reported for 70 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. Maine reported BACs for 95 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers, while Alaska reported BACs for 23 percent. Among states with reporting rates of at least 70 percent, Wyoming (50 percent) had the highest estimated percentage of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher, and Vermont (22 percent) had the lowest.

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent by state, 2008
State	Drivers killed with known BAC results		Total drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BAC ≥ 0.08
State	Num	%	Num	Num	%
Alabama	361	63	573	*	*
Alaska	6	23	26	*	*
Arizona	236	67	352	*	*
Arkansas	277	81	344	108	31
California	1,251	92	1,361	468	34
Colorado	206	78	264	88	33
Connecticut	94	76	123	45	37
Delaware	38	70	54	24	45
District of Columbia	3	33	9	*	*
Florida	787	64	1,233	*	*
Georgia	445	55	809	*	*
Hawaii	42	93	45	21	46
Idaho	96	81	118	50	42
Illinois	456	88	518	191	37
Indiana	295	70	420	113	27
Iowa	59	26	223	*	*
Kansas	142	64	223	*	*
Kentucky	308	70	442	*	*
Louisiana	253	54	470	*	*
Maine	84	95	88	26	30
Maryland	218	83	264	73	28
Massachusetts	127	73	174	75	43
Michigan	316	67	473	*	*
Minnesota	196	86	228	68	30
Mississippi	129	26	500	*	*
Missouri	423	79	536	181	34
Montana	97	85	114	56	49
Nebraska	103	80	129	37	29
Nevada	120	88	136	54	40
New Hampshire	67	89	75	22	29
New Jersey	194	84	230	77	34
New Mexico	131	90	146	58	39
New York	328	68	482	*	*
North Carolina	633	85	745	264	36
North Dakota	43	84	51	23	44
Ohio	546	91	599	186	31
Oklahoma	360	90	402	129	32
Oregon	185	91	204	75	37
Pennsylvania	596	77	773	269	35
Rhode Island	26	70	37	16	44
South Carolina	359	75	481	230	48
South Dakota	56	89	63	26	41
Tennessee	149	25	598	*	*
Texas	896	57	1,579	*	*
Utah	58	48	122	*	*
Vermont	33	87	38	8	22
Virginia	216	47	457	*	*
Washington	240	91	263	102	39
West Virginia	197	89	221	65	30
Wisconsin	275	90	307	106	35
Wyoming	62	78	79	39	50
US total	12,818	70	18,201	6,332	35
*Cells with missing data have insufficient reporting of BAC results by state or reliably estimating percent of fatally injured drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent

Restraint use

When examining restraint use among fatally injured motor vehicle occupants, it is important to note that percentages will be lower than observed restraint use because unrestrained occupants are more likely than restrained occupants to be fatally injured. Restrained occupants include occupants in child safety seats and occupants restrained by safety belts.

The percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants who were restrained in 2008 varied by state. Tennessee (15 percent) and West Virginia (15 percent) had the lowest percentages of fatally injured occupants who were restrained, and California had the highest (58 percent). The District of Columbia (29 percent) had the highest proportion of unknowns. For the nation, 42 percent of fatally injured occupants were restrained.

Number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by restraint use and state, 2008
State	Restrained		Unrestrained		Unknown		Total
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	272	36	453	60	28	4	753
Alaska	19	44	21	49	3	7	43
Arizona	197	25	321	55	67	11	585
Arkansas	142	32	267	60	38	9	447
California	1,176	58	707	35	152	7	2,035
Colorado	186	31	173	46	19	5	378
Connecticut	68	42	70	43	25	15	163
Delaware	40	51	29	37	9	12	78
District of Columbia	5	36	5	36	4	29	14
Florida	687	40	1,004	58	42	2	1,733
Georgia	406	37	579	53	104	10	1,089
Hawaii	25	44	27	47	5	9	57
Idaho	63	27	104	60	5	3	172
Illinois	324	36	339	47	60	8	723
Indiana	264	45	264	45	60	10	588
Iowa	127	41	144	46	42	13	313
Kansas	96	22	186	61	21	7	303
Kentucky	214	27	384	64	1	< 1	599
Louisiana	213	23	396	59	61	9	670
Maine	52	47	46	42	12	11	110
Maryland	202	55	143	39	21	6	366
Massachusetts	69	30	120	52	40	17	229
Michigan	346	51	241	36	85	13	672
Minnesota	153	39	125	40	36	11	314
Mississippi	220	34	432	66	.	.	652
Missouri	216	29	488	65	47	6	751
Montana	46	28	117	70	4	2	167
Nebraska	69	39	91	52	15	9	175
Nevada	96	40	90	46	9	5	195
New Hampshire	25	26	72	74	.	.	97
New Jersey	160	39	165	50	7	2	332
New Mexico	121	48	128	51	3	1	252
New York	345	51	232	34	104	15	681
North Carolina	498	48	478	46	58	6	1,034
North Dakota	18	23	56	73	3	4	77
Ohio	332	41	443	54	41	5	816
Oklahoma	197	35	339	59	34	6	570
Oregon	167	48	92	32	32	11	291
Pennsylvania	338	33	559	55	125	12	1,022
Rhode Island	11	25	29	66	4	9	44
South Carolina	215	33	412	63	32	5	659
South Dakota	28	30	59	64	5	5	92
Tennessee	263	15	458	59	57	7	778
Texas	1,118	22	958	42	181	8	2,257
Utah	96	54	70	39	13	7	179
Vermont	31	49	27	43	5	8	63
Virginia	223	36	374	61	20	3	617
Washington	198	56	126	36	28	8	352
West Virginia	98	15	157	53	40	14	295
Wisconsin	161	38	224	53	40	9	425
Wyoming	35	29	83	69	3	2	121
US total	10,671	42	12,907	51	1,850	7	25,428

Rural versus urban

Sixty-two percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2008 occurred in rural areas. The states with the greatest proportion of passenger vehicle occupant deaths on rural roads were New Hampshire and South Carolina (96 percent).

Number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by land use and state, 2008
State	Urban		Rural		Unknown		Total
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	231	31	497	66	25	3	753
Alaska	9	21	34	79	0	0	43
Arizona	251	43	334	57	0	0	585
Arkansas	100	22	347	78	0	0	447
California	1,085	53	950	47	0	0	2,035
Colorado	138	37	240	63	0	0	378
Connecticut	128	79	35	21	0	0	163
Delaware	21	27	56	72	1	1	78
District of Columbia	14	100	0	0	0	0	14
Florida	896	52	760	44	77	4	1,733
Georgia	461	42	542	50	86	8	1,089
Hawaii	19	33	38	67	0	0	57
Idaho	28	16	144	84	0	0	172
Illinois	381	53	342	47	0	0	723
Indiana	211	36	377	64	0	0	588
Iowa	43	14	270	86	0	0	313
Kansas	61	20	242	80	0	0	303
Kentucky	105	18	494	82	0	0	599
Louisiana	275	41	395	59	0	0	670
Maine	8	7	102	93	0	0	110
Maryland	206	56	160	44	0	0	366
Massachusetts	206	90	23	10	0	0	229
Michigan	240	36	432	64	0	0	672
Minnesota	85	27	229	73	0	0	314
Mississippi	115	18	537	82	0	0	652
Missouri	251	33	500	67	0	0	751
Montana	12	7	155	93	0	0	167
Nebraska	15	9	160	91	0	0	175
Nevada	98	50	97	50	0	0	195
New Hampshire	4	4	93	96	0	0	97
New Jersey	282	85	48	14	2	1	332
New Mexico	51	20	201	80	0	0	252
New York	273	40	408	60	0	0	681
North Carolina	275	27	759	73	0	0	1,034
North Dakota	7	9	70	91	0	0	77
Ohio	271	33	545	67	0	0	816
Oklahoma	160	28	410	72	0	0	570
Oregon	63	22	228	78	0	0	291
Pennsylvania	400	39	622	61	0	0	1,022
Rhode Island	28	64	11	25	5	11	44
South Carolina	25	4	634	96	0	0	659
South Dakota	6	7	86	93	0	0	92
Tennessee	295	38	483	62	0	0	778
Texas	883	39	1,314	58	60	3	2,257
Utah	50	28	129	72	0	0	179
Vermont	11	17	52	83	0	0	63
Virginia	214	35	402	65	1	< 1	617
Washington	135	38	213	61	4	1	352
West Virginia	83	28	209	71	3	1	295
Wisconsin	125	29	300	71	0	0	425
Wyoming	15	12	106	88	0	0	121
US total	9,349	37	15,815	62	264	1	25,428

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: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.