New Year's Eve 2017: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2017, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2018, 115 people died in 109 fatal car accidents on US roads, 45% more than the 80 on the same weekdays around it. It was the fewest of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 74 deaths, against 97 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 116 deaths, against 91 on a normal day.
2016 · 2018 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2017 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 18 deaths, then Texas with 18. In 30 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 | 18 | 18 | 7 |
| Texas | 18 | 15 | 3 |
| Florida | 16 | 15 | 2 |
| Wisconsin | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Missouri | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Colorado | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Georgia | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Arizona | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Virginia | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Michigan | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Indiana | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New York | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Oregon | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Utah | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Washington | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Alabama | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Illinois | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nevada | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ohio | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 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 2017 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2017?
- 115 people died in 109 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2017, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2018, 45% more than the 80 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 22 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2017?
- California, with 18 deaths. In 30 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2017 deadlier than usual?
- 115 road deaths was the fewest of the nine from 2015 to 2023; the average is 149.
Where the New Year's Eve 2017 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 2017 into 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.