New Year's Eve 2023: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over New Year's Eve 2023, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2024, 138 people died in 127 fatal car accidents on US roads, 64% more than the 84 on the same weekdays around it. It was the sixth most of the nine from 2015 to 2023. December 31, midnight to midnight alone: 106 deaths, against 107 on a normal day. January 1, midnight to midnight alone: 126 deaths, against 82 on a normal day.
2022 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
New Year's Eve 2023 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 23 deaths, then Florida with 20. In 36 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 | 23 | 20 | 7 |
| Florida | 20 | 18 | 3 |
| Texas | 12 | 12 | 2 |
| New York | 9 | 5 | 2 |
| Michigan | 6 | 6 | 2 |
| Indiana | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Alabama | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Arizona | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Colorado | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Georgia | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Kentucky | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Louisiana | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Missouri | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Oregon | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Idaho | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Maryland | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Ohio | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Oklahoma | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Pennsylvania | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Virginia | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Kansas | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mississippi | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nevada | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Washington | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maine | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montana | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 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 2023 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on New Year's Eve 2023?
- 138 people died in 127 fatal crashes on US roads over New Year's Eve 2023, from noon on December 31 to noon on January 1, 2024, 64% more than the 84 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 29 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on New Year's Eve 2023?
- California, with 23 deaths. In 36 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was New Year's Eve 2023 deadlier than usual?
- 138 road deaths was the sixth 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 2023 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 2023 into 2024, in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (2024 Annual Report File; the 2024 figures are from the Annual Report File and may be revised when NHTSA releases the 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.