Christmas 2018: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over Christmas 2018, December 24 to 26 (Christmas Day was a Tuesday), 271 people died in 240 fatal car accidents on US roads, 5% more than the 259 on the same weekdays around it. It was the ninth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024. Christmas Day alone: 80 deaths, against 83 on a normal day. Christmas Eve alone: 98 deaths, against 94 on a normal day.
2017 · 2019 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
Christmas 2018 road deaths in every state
Texas had the most, 35 deaths, then California with 29. In 46 of 51 states and DC at least one person died; a 0 is a real count of none. One year's counts are too small to rank states by; every year together ranks them per resident.
| State | Deaths | Fatal crashes | Pedestrians |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 35 | 29 | 6 |
| California | 29 | 28 | 10 |
| Florida | 27 | 22 | 5 |
| Georgia | 15 | 14 | 1 |
| Illinois | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| Missouri | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Alabama | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Michigan | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Kentucky | 8 | 6 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| Indiana | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Louisiana | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Ohio | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| New York | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| Virginia | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Colorado | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Maine | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Arizona | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Maryland | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Oregon | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Kansas | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Nevada | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Montana | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Utah | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2024 Annual Report File (released April 2026, subject to revision). How we count
Questions about Christmas 2018 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on Christmas 2018?
- 271 people died in 240 fatal crashes on US roads over Christmas 2018, December 24 to 26 (Christmas Day was a Tuesday), 5% more than the 259 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 44 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on Christmas 2018?
- Texas, with 35 deaths. In 46 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was Christmas 2018 deadlier than usual?
- 271 road deaths was the ninth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024; the average is 294. The deadliest was 2021 and the least deadly 2017.
Where the Christmas 2018 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from December 24 to 26 in 2018, in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, final file. The normal day is the same weekdays in the weeks before and after, averaged (4 of them this year). How the holiday is counted.