New Year's Eve 2021: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2021, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2022, 166 people died in 159 fatal car accidents on US roads, 23% more than the 135 on the same weekdays around it. It was the third most of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 108 deaths, against 135 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 162 deaths, against 132 on a normal day.
2020 · 2022 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2021 road deaths in every state
Texas had the most, 25 deaths, then California with 19. In 38 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 25 | 23 | 5 |
| California | 19 | 18 | 6 |
| Florida | 13 | 13 | 5 |
| Illinois | 9 | 6 | 2 |
| Georgia | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Maryland | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| South Carolina | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Arizona | 5 | 5 | 3 |
| Michigan | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| New York | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Alabama | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Indiana | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Kansas | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Ohio | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Virginia | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Washington | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Maine | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Missouri | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Oregon | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Idaho | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 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 2021 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2021?
- 166 people died in 159 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2021, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2022, 23% more than the 135 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 43 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2021?
- Texas, with 25 deaths. In 38 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2021 deadlier than usual?
- 166 road deaths was the third 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 2021 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 2021 into 2022, 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.