New Year's Eve 2016: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2016, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2017, 145 people died in 135 fatal car accidents on US roads, 42% more than the 102 on the same weekdays around it. It was the fifth most of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 109 deaths, against 115 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 143 deaths, against 99 on a normal day.
2015 · 2017 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2016 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 20 deaths, then Texas with 15. In 40 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 | 20 | 19 | 9 |
| Texas | 15 | 15 | 1 |
| Florida | 14 | 14 | 3 |
| Virginia | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| South Carolina | 9 | 8 | 1 |
| Michigan | 7 | 6 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 7 | 5 | 0 |
| Ohio | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Pennsylvania | 4 | 3 | 3 |
| Alabama | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Arizona | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Missouri | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| New York | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Washington | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Illinois | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Indiana | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Iowa | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Idaho | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Maine | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Maryland | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oregon | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Utah | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 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 2016 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2016?
- 145 people died in 135 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2016, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2017, 42% more than the 102 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 35 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2016?
- California, with 20 deaths. In 40 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2016 deadlier than usual?
- 145 road deaths was the fifth 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 2016 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 2016 into 2017, 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.