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These are the most dangerous places to be driving on New Year’s Eve, study shows

Posted at 12:51 PM, Dec 30, 2019
and last updated 2019-12-30 14:52:04-05

New Year’s Eve can make for some dangerous roads, but the state and county you reside in could determine how safe the drive is from the party to your home, one new study says.

According to a new study, some states and counties have a much higher crash rate on New Year’s Eve when compared to others.

The study was conducted by law firm Cannon & Dunphy S.C. and consumer safety advocacy firm Safer America. The study calculated each state and county’s crash rate on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day using data from the past five years from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Isolating all deadly crashes that occurred on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day from 2013-14 to 2017-18, the study found that more than 1,000 people were killed in fatal collisions across the U.S. on New Year’s Eve or Day.

But some areas were prone to more crashes than others over the holiday period, the study says. A crash rate for each state and county was calculated by examining the number of crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers.

In addition to the crash rates, the study also found there are certain hours that drivers should avoid on New Year’s Eve.

“Without a doubt, the hours between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. are the most dangerous during the New Year’s holiday,” the study says.

These hours were Nos. 1 and 2 for total fatal crashes and fatal crashes involving a drunk driver. Fatal crashes drop significantly from midnight to 1 a.m. as people are likely to stay where they are to count down to the new year, according to the study.

The results of the study are show below.

The five states with the highest crash rates (most dangerous states) were:

  1. Mississippi
  2. Oklahoma
  3. South Carolina
  4. Wyoming
  5. Texas

The five states with the lowest crash rates (safest states) were:

  1. North Dakota
  2. Delaware
  3. Rhode Island
  4. Minnesota
  5. Vermont

Which Counties had the most fatal crashes?

  1. Los Angeles, CA – 33 fatal crashes, 35 fatalities
  2. Harris County, TX – 26 fatal crashes, 30 fatalities
  3. Dallas County, TX – 20 fatal crashes
  4. Maricopa County, AZ – 18 fatal crashes, 18 fatalities
  5. San Diego County, CA – 17 fatal crashes, 18 fatalities
  6. San Bernardino County, CA – 14 fatal crashes, 20 fatalities
  7. Orange County, FL – 13 fatal crashes, 14 fatalities
  8. Miami-Dade County, FL – 13 fatal crashes, 13 fatalities
  9. Duval County, FL – 12 fatal crashes, 13 fatalities
  10. Broward County, FL – 12 fatal crashes, 12 fatalities

FIVE YEARS OF FATAL CRASHES ON NEW YEAR’S EVE AND NEW YEAR’S DAY
*Crash rates are expressed per 100,000 licensed drivers in each state.

Rank State Fatal Crashes Fatalities Drunk Driver Crashes Drunk Driver Fatalities Crashes Per 100k Licensed Drivers
1 Mississippi 29 33 8 8 1.44
2 Oklahoma 33 35 12 14 1.32
3 South Carolina 47 50 18 19 1.25
4 Wyoming 5 6 1 1 1.19
5 Texas 188 210 62 66 1.18
6 Florida 167 178 37 39 1.14
7 Louisiana 36 43 21 25 1.06
8 West Virginia 12 12 4 4 1.04
9 New Mexico 15 15 4 4 0.99
10 Alabama 38 44 12 15 0.96
11 Kentucky 28 32 10 12 0.92
12 Tennessee 48 54 13 15 0.92
13 Arizona 42 43 11 11 0.83
14 Missouri 35 38 16 19 0.82
15 South Dakota 5 5 3 3 0.80
16 North Carolina 57 61 15 16 0.78
17 Maine 8 9 4 5 0.78
18 Georgia 54 63 18 22 0.77
19 Oregon 22 25 5 6 0.77
20 Hawaii 7 7 1 1 0.75
21 Alaska 4 4 2 2 0.75
22 Virginia 41 41 13 13 0.69
23 Kansas 13 13 4 4 0.64
24 Indiana 29 31 9 9 0.64
25 Michigan 45 53 17 20 0.64
26 Connecticut 16 17 3 4 0.61
27 California 154 167 35 38 0.59
28 Wisconsin 23 27 15 19 0.55
29 Iowa 12 12 7 7 0.53
30 Nevada 10 11 4 5 0.53
31 Illinois 45 50 18 21 0.53
32 Colorado 21 24 6 7 0.52
33 Utah 10 11 3 4 0.51
34 Montana 4 4 1 1 0.50
35 Washington 28 32 12 14 0.50
36 Pennsylvania 43 46 10 10 0.48
37 Ohio 37 41 18 22 0.46
38 Idaho 5 6 4 5 0.43
39 Nebraska 6 6 3 3 0.43
40 Maryland 18 20 7 8 0.42
41 New Jersey 26 26 7 7 0.42
42 New York 49 51 13 13 0.41
43 District Of Columbia 2 2 0 0 0.41
44 Massachusetts 19 26 6 10 0.38
45 Arkansas 9 9 3 3 0.38
46 New Hampshire 4 4 2 2 0.36
47 Vermont 2 2 2 2 0.36
48 Minnesota 12 15 2 2 0.36
49 Rhode Island 2 2 0 0 0.27
50 Delaware 2 2 1 1 0.26
51 North Dakota 1 1 1 1 0.18