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The decline in motor vehicle mortalities was one of the outstanding public health triumphs of the 20th century. The number of motor vehicle deaths per capita has dropped by more than half in the last 50 years, decreasing from 26.8 per 100,000 Americans in 1970 to 12.9 per 100,000 in 2020.
Despite the decline, over 1.3 million people are still killed in automobile accidents yearly. Car crash injuries are the 8th leading reason of death worldwide and the foremost cause for people aged 29 and younger.
Differences in road design, driver behavior, weather situations, and other regional characteristics make some locations far more dangerous to drive in than others.
But where should you take additional care when getting behind the wheel in the U.S. states?
This new analysis from The Clunker Junker examined data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to uncover the most and least risky American states and cities to drive in.
Mississippi is the riskiest U.S. state for driving, with 30.1 accidents per 100,000 vehicles every year.
With 24.9 accidents per 100,000 vehicles each year, Baton Rouge is the most dangerous U.S. city for driving.
California and Texas are home to the most unsafe cities to drive in at night – Chula Vista is the most hazardous, with 74.6 percent of all reported car accidents occurring at night.
In 18 of the 25 most dangerous U.S. counties for driving, more than half of the population lives in rural areas.
Methodology
To determine the most dangerous places to drive, The Clunker Junker collected data on car accidents reported from 2016 to 2020 from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Then, to find the number of accidents per 100,000 cars, the team collected data about the state’s population and extracted the total number of vehicles in each state. Second, they calculated the number of cars per capita. Third, The Clunker Junker used these indices to estimate the number of cars in each city of the top 100 most populated cities in the United States. Data on population came from the U.S. Census Bureau. At the county level, the team kept only counties with a population of at least 50,000. Finally, they calculated the number of accidents per 100,000 vehicles yearly.
To reveal the places where it is more dangerous to drive at night rather than a day, the team split all accidents into two categories, “dark” and “day.” They included in the “dark” category the accidents with the following lighting types noted: ‘Dark – Not Lighted,’ ‘Dark – Lighted,’ ‘Dark – Unknown Light.’ In the ‘day’ category, the team included only those accidents that occurred under the illumination – ‘Daylight.’ Data on light conditions came from the NHTSA.
The data was collected in March 2022
The most dangerous U.S. states to drive
While advances in technology and design have made driving safer than ever, car crashes remain one of the leading causes of death nationwide – and are far more likely in some states than others. Mississippi is the most dangerous state to drive, with an average of 30.1 accidents per 100,000 vehicles yearly. The safest U.S. state is Minnesota, where only 6.1 accidents occur annually per 100,000 cars.
Car accident rates in the 1000 most populated U.S. counties
The frequency of car accidents varies widely across the United States, with drivers in the most dangerous county more than 25 times more likely to crash than those in the safest. In Apache County, AZ, there are an average of 46.7 accidents per 100,000 vehicles annually, the most of any county with a population of more than 50,000 people. Meanwhile, there are just 1.8 accidents per 100,000 in Arlington County, VA, the least of any county.
Top 10 most dangerous U.S. cities to drive
While urban areas tend to have a lower incidence of car accidents than rural areas, some cities are far more dangerous places to drive than others. In Baton Rouge, LA, there are an average of 24.9 accidents per 100,000 vehicles annually – the most of any city in our analysis. Of the ten most dangerous cities to drive, six are in the South, three are in the Midwest, and one is in the West.
Most dangerous U.S. cities to drive in at night
Fatigue, low visibility, and impaired drivers are just some factors that make driving at night more than three times as deadly as the daytime. In some cities, the increased risk of driving at night is even greater. In Chula Vista, CA, 74.6% of accidents occur at night – the largest share of any city. California has four of the ten most dangerous cities to drive to at nighttime.
