Holiday season 2018: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over the 2018 holiday season, December 23, 2018, to January 1, 2019, 931 people died in 855 fatal car accidents on US roads, 3% more than the 902 on the same weekdays around it. It was the fewest of the nine from 2015 to 2023.
2017 · 2019 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
Holiday season 2018 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 116 deaths, then Florida with 102. In 50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 116 | 104 | 36 |
| Florida | 102 | 94 | 25 |
| Texas | 95 | 87 | 14 |
| Georgia | 50 | 48 | 7 |
| Pennsylvania | 31 | 28 | 6 |
| South Carolina | 29 | 27 | 4 |
| North Carolina | 28 | 28 | 5 |
| Alabama | 26 | 22 | 5 |
| Michigan | 25 | 22 | 3 |
| Missouri | 23 | 23 | 4 |
| Ohio | 21 | 19 | 3 |
| Arizona | 20 | 19 | 6 |
| Louisiana | 20 | 19 | 4 |
| New York | 19 | 18 | 10 |
| Indiana | 19 | 16 | 3 |
| Illinois | 18 | 18 | 4 |
| Kentucky | 18 | 16 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 18 | 16 | 3 |
| Mississippi | 17 | 15 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 16 | 16 | 3 |
| Virginia | 16 | 16 | 5 |
| Colorado | 16 | 14 | 1 |
| Washington | 14 | 14 | 5 |
| Oregon | 14 | 13 | 3 |
| Maryland | 14 | 11 | 4 |
| New Jersey | 14 | 11 | 2 |
| New Mexico | 12 | 11 | 2 |
| Arkansas | 11 | 9 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 10 | 3 |
| Iowa | 10 | 9 | 0 |
| Kansas | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Nevada | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Connecticut | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Maine | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Idaho | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Nebraska | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Montana | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Alaska | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| New Hampshire | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| South Dakota | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Utah | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Vermont | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Delaware | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hawaii | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 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 the holiday season 2018 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on the holiday season 2018?
- 931 people died in 855 fatal crashes on US roads over the 2018 holiday season, December 23, 2018, to January 1, 2019, 3% more than the 902 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 190 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on the holiday season 2018?
- California, with 116 deaths. In 50 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was the holiday season 2018 deadlier than usual?
- 931 road deaths was the fewest of the nine from 2015 to 2023; the average is 1,022.
Where the the holiday season 2018 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from December 23 to January 1 in 2018 into 2019, 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.