New Year's Eve 2020: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2020, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2021, 172 people died in 157 fatal car accidents on US roads, 68% more than the 103 on the same weekdays around it. It was the second most of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 107 deaths, against 108 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 166 deaths, against 117 on a normal day.
2019 · 2021 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2020 road deaths in every state
Florida had the most, 24 deaths, then Texas with 18. In 39 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 | 24 | 21 | 6 |
| Texas | 18 | 17 | 3 |
| California | 16 | 13 | 5 |
| North Carolina | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| Michigan | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Alabama | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Ohio | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Pennsylvania | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Arizona | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Arkansas | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Colorado | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Connecticut | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Oregon | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Washington | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Indiana | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| New York | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Illinois | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Missouri | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| South Carolina | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Georgia | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Idaho | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Montana | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Virginia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Utah | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 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 2020 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2020?
- 172 people died in 157 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2020, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2021, 68% more than the 103 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 40 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2020?
- Florida, with 24 deaths. In 39 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2020 deadlier than usual?
- 172 road deaths was the second 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 2020 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 2020 into 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.