Thanksgiving 2016: fatal car accidents and deaths
Over Thanksgiving week 2016, Wednesday to Sunday (November 23 to 27), 548 people died in 502 fatal car accidents on US roads, 2% fewer than the 559 on the same weekdays around it. It was the sixth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024. Thanksgiving Day alone: 118 deaths, against 105 on a normal day. The Wednesday before alone: 104 deaths, against 92 on a normal day.
2015 · 2017 · Every year together, day by day and state by state.
Thanksgiving 2016 road deaths in every state
California had the most, 64 deaths, then Texas with 61. 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 | 64 | 58 | 12 |
| Texas | 61 | 59 | 14 |
| Florida | 49 | 47 | 6 |
| North Carolina | 25 | 22 | 3 |
| Georgia | 24 | 20 | 4 |
| South Carolina | 19 | 17 | 4 |
| Alabama | 18 | 16 | 2 |
| Pennsylvania | 18 | 14 | 1 |
| Missouri | 17 | 15 | 3 |
| Tennessee | 16 | 12 | 0 |
| Michigan | 15 | 15 | 6 |
| Arizona | 14 | 14 | 4 |
| Illinois | 12 | 11 | 2 |
| Indiana | 11 | 11 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 11 | 10 | 1 |
| New York | 11 | 9 | 3 |
| Louisiana | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Maryland | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Mississippi | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Ohio | 8 | 8 | 2 |
| Virginia | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| Washington | 8 | 8 | 3 |
| Arkansas | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Massachusetts | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| Oregon | 7 | 7 | 2 |
| New Jersey | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| Kansas | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Kentucky | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| New Mexico | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Oklahoma | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Colorado | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| Iowa | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Utah | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Connecticut | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Wyoming | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| Maine | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Idaho | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| West Virginia | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Nevada | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Montana | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| South Dakota | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Vermont | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Alaska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Delaware | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nebraska | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| District of Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 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 2016 fatal car accidents
- How many people died in car crashes on Thanksgiving 2016?
- 548 people died in 502 fatal crashes on US roads over Thanksgiving week 2016, Wednesday to Sunday (November 23 to 27), 2% fewer than the 559 on the same weekdays around it. Of them, 91 were pedestrians. Source: NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
- Which state had the most road deaths on Thanksgiving 2016?
- California, with 64 deaths. In 48 of 51 states and DC at least one person died on the roads.
- Was Thanksgiving 2016 deadlier than usual?
- 548 road deaths was the sixth most of the ten from 2015 to 2024; the average is 546. The deadliest was 2017 and the least deadly 2019.
Where the Thanksgiving 2016 numbers come from
Every fatal crash NHTSA dated from Wednesday to Sunday of Thanksgiving week in 2016, 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.