New Year's Eve 2015: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2015, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2016, 137 people died in 122 fatal car accidents on US roads, 43% more than the 96 on the same weekdays around it. It was the seventh most of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 97 deaths, against 97 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 103 deaths, against 104 on a normal day.
2016 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2015 road deaths in every state
Florida had the most, 16 deaths, then California with 15. In 35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 16 | 16 | 4 |
| California | 15 | 10 | 1 |
| Texas | 13 | 12 | 3 |
| Georgia | 10 | 9 | 2 |
| Illinois | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Michigan | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Alabama | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| New York | 4 | 4 | 3 |
| Ohio | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Maryland | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Louisiana | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Nevada | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Indiana | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Virginia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Colorado | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Maine | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Missouri | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Arizona | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oregon | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vermont | 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 New Year's Eve 2015 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2015?
- 137 people died in 122 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2015, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2016, 43% more than the 96 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 30 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2015?
- Florida, with 16 deaths. In 35 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2015 deadlier than usual?
- 137 road deaths was the seventh most of the nine from 2015 to 2023; the average is 149. The deadliest was 2022 and the least deadly 2017.
Where the New Year's Eve 2015 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, by the hour of the crash in 2015 into 2016, 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.