Thanksgiving 2015: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over Thanksgiving week 2015, Wednesday to Sunday (November 25 to 29), 505 people died in 450 fatal car accidents on US roads, 4% fewer than the 529 on the same weekdays around it. It was the eighth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024. Thanksgiving Day alone: 112 deaths, against 110 on a normal day. The Wednesday before alone: 92 deaths, against 93 on a normal day.
2016 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
Thanksgiving 2015 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 47 deaths, then Texas with 47. In 48 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 | 47 | 42 | 17 |
| Texas | 47 | 39 | 10 |
| Florida | 41 | 40 | 11 |
| Pennsylvania | 24 | 20 | 3 |
| New York | 23 | 21 | 9 |
| North Carolina | 23 | 21 | 1 |
| Illinois | 17 | 15 | 0 |
| Georgia | 17 | 14 | 4 |
| Arizona | 17 | 11 | 1 |
| Missouri | 16 | 16 | 1 |
| New Jersey | 15 | 13 | 3 |
| Louisiana | 15 | 9 | 2 |
| Michigan | 13 | 13 | 5 |
| Mississippi | 13 | 12 | 1 |
| Alabama | 13 | 10 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 12 | 12 | 3 |
| Kentucky | 12 | 11 | 1 |
| Kansas | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Virginia | 9 | 9 | 2 |
| Ohio | 9 | 7 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Indiana | 8 | 7 | 0 |
| Arkansas | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Oregon | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Iowa | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Maryland | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| New Mexico | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Nebraska | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Washington | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Nevada | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Maine | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Colorado | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Alaska | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Delaware | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Hawaii | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Massachusetts | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Utah | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Idaho | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Montana | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Vermont | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| West Virginia | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 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 Thanksgiving 2015 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on Thanksgiving 2015?
- 505 people died in 450 fatal crashes on US roads over Thanksgiving week 2015, Wednesday to Sunday (November 25 to 29), 4% fewer than the 529 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 88 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on Thanksgiving 2015?
- California, with 47 deaths. In 48 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was Thanksgiving 2015 deadlier than usual?
- 505 road deaths was the eighth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024; the average is 546. The deadliest was 2017 and the least deadly 2019.
Where the Thanksgiving 2015 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from Wednesday to Sunday of Thanksgiving week in 2015, in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System, final file. The normal day is the same weekdays in the weeks before and after, averaged (6 of them this year). How the holiday is counted.