Christmas 2021: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over Christmas 2021, December 24 to 26 (Christmas Day was a Saturday), 337 people died in 307 fatal car accidents on US roads, 9% fewer than the 372 on the same weekdays around it. It was the most of the ten from 2015 to 2024. Christmas Day alone: 110 deaths, against 139 on a normal day. Christmas Eve alone: 121 deaths, against 125 on a normal day.
2020 · 2022 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
Christmas 2021 road deaths in every state
Texas had the most, 36 deaths, then Florida with 31. In 43 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 | 36 | 33 | 3 |
| Florida | 31 | 27 | 5 |
| California | 29 | 29 | 14 |
| North Carolina | 21 | 19 | 3 |
| Georgia | 15 | 13 | 1 |
| New York | 13 | 11 | 5 |
| South Carolina | 13 | 11 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 13 | 10 | 4 |
| Louisiana | 12 | 11 | 5 |
| Alabama | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| Arizona | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| Arkansas | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Missouri | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Oklahoma | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Virginia | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Illinois | 7 | 7 | 4 |
| Ohio | 7 | 7 | 1 |
| Indiana | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Maryland | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Colorado | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Connecticut | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Kansas | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Washington | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Michigan | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Oregon | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Montana | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Utah | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Iowa | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Idaho | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Vermont | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 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 2021 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on Christmas 2021?
- 337 people died in 307 fatal crashes on US roads over Christmas 2021, December 24 to 26 (Christmas Day was a Saturday), 9% fewer than the 372 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 68 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on Christmas 2021?
- Texas, with 36 deaths. In 43 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was Christmas 2021 deadlier than usual?
- 337 road deaths was the most of the ten from 2015 to 2024; the average is 294.
Where the Christmas 2021 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from December 24 to 26 in 2021, 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.