FATALITY FACTS 2009

State by state

The number and types of motor vehicle crash deaths differ widely among the 50 states and the District of Columbia. A state's population has an obvious effect on the number of motor vehicle deaths. Fatality rates per capita provide a way of examining motor vehicle deaths relative to a state's population. However, many factors can affect these rates, including amounts and types of travel, types of vehicles driven, travel speeds, rates of licensure, state traffic laws, emergency care capabilities, weather, and topography.

The following facts are based on analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).

Data subsections:

Fatal crash totals Deaths by road user Crash types Alcohol involvement Restraint use Rural versus urban

Fatal crash totals

There were 30,797 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2009 in which 33,808 deaths occurred. This resulted in a national motor vehicle death rate of 11 deaths per 100,000 people. Motor vehicle death rates varied among states from a low of 4.8 deaths per 100,000 people in the District of Columbia, to a high of 24.6 deaths per 100,000 people in Wyoming.

States with lowest and highest rates of motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people, 2009

Population, fatal motor vehicle crashes, motor vehicle crash deaths, and motor vehicle crash deaths per 100,000 people by state, 2009
State	Population	Fatal crashes	Deaths
State	Population	Num	Num	Death rate
Alabama	4,708,708	774	848	18.0
Alaska	698,473	59	64	9.2
Arizona	6,595,778	710	807	12.2
Arkansas	2,889,450	523	585	20.2
California	36,961,664	2,816	3,081	8.3
Colorado	5,024,748	437	465	9.3
Connecticut	3,518,288	210	223	6.3
Delaware	885,122	101	116	13.1
District of Columbia	599,657	28	29	4.8
Florida	18,537,969	2,369	2,558	13.8
Georgia	9,829,211	1,172	1,284	13.1
Hawaii	1,295,178	99	109	8.4
Idaho	1,545,801	199	226	14.6
Illinois	12,910,409	832	911	7.1
Indiana	6,423,113	632	693	10.8
Iowa	3,007,856	339	372	12.4
Kansas	2,818,747	348	386	13.7
Kentucky	4,314,113	730	791	18.3
Louisiana	4,492,076	726	821	18.3
Maine	1,318,301	153	159	12.1
Maryland	5,699,478	513	547	9.6
Massachusetts	6,593,587	308	334	5.1
Michigan	9,969,727	806	871	8.7
Minnesota	5,266,214	371	421	8.0
Mississippi	2,951,996	631	700	23.7
Missouri	5,987,580	786	878	14.7
Montana	974,989	198	221	22.7
Nebraska	1,796,619	205	223	12.4
Nevada	2,643,085	223	243	9.2
New Hampshire	1,324,575	97	110	8.3
New Jersey	8,707,739	549	583	6.7
New Mexico	2,009,671	319	361	18.0
New York	19,541,453	1,067	1,156	5.9
North Carolina	9,380,884	1,208	1,314	14.0
North Dakota	646,844	116	140	21.6
Ohio	11,542,645	944	1,021	8.8
Oklahoma	3,687,050	647	738	20.0
Oregon	3,825,657	331	377	9.9
Pennsylvania	12,604,767	1,143	1,256	10.0
Rhode Island	1,053,209	76	83	7.9
South Carolina	4,561,242	817	894	19.6
South Dakota	812,383	112	131	16.1
Tennessee	6,296,254	918	989	15.7
Texas	24,782,302	2,776	3,071	12.4
Utah	2,784,572	217	244	8.8
Vermont	621,760	69	74	11.9
Virginia	7,882,590	695	757	9.6
Washington	6,664,195	453	492	7.4
West Virginia	1,819,777	324	356	19.6
Wisconsin	5,654,774	505	561	9.9
Wyoming	544,270	116	134	24.6
U.S. Total	307,006,550	30,797	33,808	11.0

Deaths by road user

In 2009, the types of motor vehicle crash deaths varied across states. For example, Wyoming had the lowest percentage of deaths involving car occupants (27 percent) and the highest percentage of deaths involving occupants of SUVs and pickups (55 percent). In contrast, New Jersey had relatively high proportions of car occupant deaths (46 percent) and pedestrian deaths (27 percent), and a relatively low percentage of deaths involving SUV or pickup occupants (11 percent).The highest percentage of motorcyclist deaths occurred in Hawaii (28 percent), and the percentage of pedestrian deaths was highest in the District of Columbia (48 percent).

Motor vehicle crash deaths by road user type and state, 2009
State	Passenger car occupants		Pickup and SUV occupants		Large truck occupants		Motorcyclists		Pedestrians		Bicyclists		Total*
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	386	46	269	32	14	2	74	9	64	8	6	1	848
Alaska	21	33	19	30	0	0	7	11	9	14	2	3	64
Arizona	235	29	210	26	8	1	118	15	120	15	25	3	807
Arkansas	226	39	210	36	13	2	68	12	36	6	5	1	585
California	1,275	41	622	20	27	1	383	12	563	18	99	3	3,081
Colorado	151	32	145	31	10	2	85	18	47	10	10	2	465
Connecticut	107	48	40	18	1	0	43	19	26	12	1	0	223
Delaware	48	41	28	24	0	0	13	11	15	13	6	5	116
District of Columbia	9	31	1	3	0	0	3	10	14	48	0	0	29
Florida	931	36	565	22	21	1	387	15	466	18	107	4	2,558
Georgia	491	38	411	32	28	2	133	10	150	12	21	2	1,284
Hawaii	34	31	18	17	2	2	30	28	16	15	3	3	109
Idaho	81	36	81	36	1	0	34	15	10	4	7	3	226
Illinois	442	49	177	19	3	0	125	14	111	12	20	2	911
Indiana	324	47	171	25	15	2	90	13	50	7	7	1	693
Iowa	166	45	103	28	11	3	49	13	21	6	2	1	372
Kansas	160	41	136	35	2	1	44	11	22	6	5	1	386
Kentucky	348	44	265	34	19	2	83	10	41	5	5	1	791
Louisiana	313	38	263	32	8	1	101	12	107	13	13	2	821
Maine	76	48	38	24	1	1	23	14	11	7	0	0	159
Maryland	240	44	94	17	4	1	66	12	113	21	11	2	547
Massachusetts	157	47	56	17	3	1	51	15	48	14	6	2	334
Michigan	394	45	180	21	2	0	102	12	118	14	19	2	871
Minnesota	188	45	98	23	5	1	50	12	42	10	10	2	421
Mississippi	318	45	220	31	9	1	46	7	58	8	10	1	700
Missouri	416	47	261	30	10	1	81	9	68	8	2	0	878
Montana	72	33	89	40	7	3	24	11	15	7	1	0	221
Nebraska	102	46	83	37	4	2	14	6	9	4	3	1	223
Nevada	83	34	65	27	3	1	40	16	35	14	6	2	243
New Hampshire	43	39	36	33	0	0	21	19	8	7	1	1	110
New Jersey	266	46	63	11	4	1	64	11	157	27	13	2	583
New Mexico	115	32	141	39	9	2	40	11	39	11	3	1	361
New York	474	41	156	13	8	1	153	13	306	26	29	3	1,156
North Carolina	635	48	318	24	15	1	141	11	146	11	16	1	1,314
North Dakota	70	50	51	36	3	2	7	5	4	3	1	1	140
Ohio	504	49	195	19	9	1	166	16	85	8	19	2	1,021
Oklahoma	271	37	275	37	25	3	106	14	31	4	11	1	738
Oregon	142	38	118	31	5	1	52	14	35	9	8	2	377
Pennsylvania	592	47	255	20	14	1	203	16	134	11	15	1	1,256
Rhode Island	32	39	13	16	0	0	18	22	16	19	0	0	83
South Carolina	393	44	270	30	10	1	91	10	89	10	11	1	894
South Dakota	59	45	46	35	3	2	16	12	4	3	0	0	131
Tennessee	429	43	310	31	20	2	117	12	70	7	9	1	989
Texas	1,093	36	1,049	34	56	2	424	14	344	11	48	2	3,071
Utah	97	40	77	32	8	3	29	12	19	8	5	2	244
Vermont	43	58	11	15	2	3	8	11	5	7	0	0	74
Virginia	370	49	190	25	15	2	72	10	73	10	11	1	757
Washington	204	41	134	27	9	2	67	14	61	12	9	2	492
West Virginia	148	42	129	36	7	2	25	7	21	6	0	0	356
Wisconsin	248	44	154	27	1	0	81	14	38	7	7	1	561
Wyoming	36	27	74	55	3	2	13	10	2	1	2	1	134
U.S. Total	14,058	42	8,983	27	457	1	4,281	13	4,092	12	630	2	33,808
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Crash types

Nationwide, 53 percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2009 occurred in single-vehicle crashes. The highest proportions of single-vehicle crashes occurred in Wyoming (70 percent) and South Dakota (71 percent).

Passenger vehicle occupant deaths by crash type and state, 2009
State	Single-vehicle		Multiple-vehicle		All crashes*
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	364	55	299	45	663
Alaska	18	45	22	55	40
Arizona	251	54	211	46	462
Arkansas	244	55	203	45	447
California	981	51	942	49	1,926
Colorado	161	53	140	46	304
Connecticut	97	65	53	35	150
Delaware	35	43	45	56	81
District of Columbia	5	50	5	50	10
Florida	788	52	727	48	1,516
Georgia	458	50	460	50	920
Hawaii	34	65	18	35	52
Idaho	93	57	71	43	164
Illinois	292	46	338	54	630
Indiana	250	50	250	50	502
Iowa	136	50	138	50	274
Kansas	167	55	134	45	301
Kentucky	313	50	307	50	620
Louisiana	333	58	245	42	579
Maine	55	47	61	52	117
Maryland	173	50	172	50	346
Massachusetts	132	61	83	39	215
Michigan	250	42	338	57	589
Minnesota	122	41	174	59	296
Mississippi	352	63	209	37	561
Missouri	357	52	330	48	687
Montana	101	62	63	38	164
Nebraska	87	47	100	53	187
Nevada	86	57	66	43	152
New Hampshire	39	49	40	51	79
New Jersey	148	44	189	56	337
New Mexico	151	58	110	42	261
New York	304	47	339	53	643
North Carolina	528	55	434	45	963
North Dakota	64	52	58	48	122
Ohio	360	50	356	50	717
Oklahoma	302	55	251	45	553
Oregon	152	57	116	43	268
Pennsylvania	404	47	455	53	859
Rhode Island	29	63	17	37	46
South Carolina	406	60	266	40	673
South Dakota	77	71	31	29	108
Tennessee	440	59	310	41	750
Texas	1,112	52	1,047	48	2,159
Utah	92	52	86	48	178
Vermont	28	51	27	49	55
Virginia	345	61	225	39	570
Washington	191	57	146	43	338
West Virginia	168	59	116	41	284
Wisconsin	222	54	187	46	409
Wyoming	77	70	33	30	110
U.S. total	12,374	53	11,043	47	23,437
*Total includes other and/or unknowns

Alcohol involvement

Some states report blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for only a small percentage of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. If BAC is missing for a driver, it is imputed by the US Department of Transportation's multiple imputation model. Subramanian, R. 2002. Transitioning to multiple imputation — a new method to impute missing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) values in FARS. Report no. DOT HS-809-403. Washington, DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. However, BAC information is most precise in states that report a high percentage of BACs. In the following table, estimated percentages of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BACs at or above 0.08 percent are shown only for states in which BAC reporting was 70 percent or higher. Estimated percentages are based on known BAC when available and imputed BAC for the remaining drivers.

For the nation in 2009, BAC was reported for 71 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers. Hawaii reported BACs for 97 percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers, while Mississippi reported BACs for 23 percent. Among the 34 states and the District of Columbia with reporting rates of at least 70 percent, Hawaii had the highest estimated percentage of fatally injured drivers with BACs of 0.08 percent or higher (68 percent), and New Hampshire had the lowest (21 percent).

Estimated number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent by state, 2009
State	Drivers killed with known BAC results		Total drivers killed	Estimated drivers killed with BAC ≥ 0.08
State	Num	%	Num	Num	%
Alabama	291	57	507	*	*
Alaska	18	78	23	7	29
Arizona	157	56	281	*	*
Arkansas	284	84	338	106	32
California	1,092	87	1,249	467	37
Colorado	177	79	223	79	35
Connecticut	87	76	114	51	44
Delaware	30	55	55	*	*
District of Columbia	5	83	6	4	60
Florida	702	66	1,066	*	*
Georgia	399	58	686	*	*
Hawaii	36	97	37	25	68
Idaho	85	78	109	31	28
Illinois	399	90	445	145	32
Indiana	238	64	369	*	*
Iowa	55	27	206	*	*
Kansas	124	57	217	*	*
Kentucky	358	75	476	116	24
Louisiana	276	65	425	*	*
Maine	84	90	93	26	28
Maryland	227	86	264	78	29
Massachusetts	68	43	158	*	*
Michigan	294	71	417	125	30
Minnesota	184	90	205	51	25
Mississippi	97	23	421	*	*
Missouri	395	80	491	175	36
Montana	115	90	128	49	38
Nebraska	115	79	146	45	31
Nevada	81	84	96	27	29
New Hampshire	50	93	54	12	21
New Jersey	201	81	247	63	26
New Mexico	160	94	171	69	40
New York	333	75	442	127	29
North Carolina	439	62	704	*	*
North Dakota	70	85	82	37	45
Ohio	462	87	529	174	33
Oklahoma	348	88	396	132	33
Oregon	167	88	190	61	32
Pennsylvania	480	75	643	218	34
Rhode Island	17	55	31	*	*
South Carolina	392	78	501	233	46
South Dakota	57	79	72	29	40
Tennessee	167	31	543	*	*
Texas	917	59	1,552	*	*
Utah	55	50	111	*	*
Vermont	41	91	45	16	36
Virginia	343	82	417	143	34
Washington	213	93	230	106	46
West Virginia	199	95	210	65	31
Wisconsin	282	94	301	121	40
Wyoming	58	84	69	29	43
U.S. total	11,924	71	16,791	5,861	35
*Cells with missing data have insufficient reporting of BAC results by state for reliably estimating percent of fatally injured drivers with BAC ≥ 0.08 percent

Restraint use

Based on daytime observational surveys conducted by the states, the rate of seatbelt use among front seat passenger vehicle occupants in 2009 ranged from 68 percent in Wyoming to 98 percent in Michigan. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 2010. Seat belt use in 2009 — use rates in the states and territories. Report no. DOT HS-811-324. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Transportation. When examining restraint use among fatally injured motor vehicle occupants, it is important to note that percentages will be lower than observed restraint use because unrestrained occupants are more likely than restrained occupants to be fatally injured in a crash. Restrained fatally injured occupants include occupants in child safety seats and occupants restrained by safety belts.

State	Population	Num	Num	Death rate
Alabama	4,708,708	774	848	18.0
Alaska	698,473	59	64	9.2
Arizona	6,595,778	710	807	12.2
Arkansas	2,889,450	523	585	20.2
California	36,961,664	2,816	3,081	8.3
Colorado	5,024,748	437	465	9.3
Connecticut	3,518,288	210	223	6.3
Delaware	885,122	101	116	13.1
District of Columbia	599,657	28	29	4.8
Florida	18,537,969	2,369	2,558	13.8
Georgia	9,829,211	1,172	1,284	13.1
Hawaii	1,295,178	99	109	8.4
Idaho	1,545,801	199	226	14.6
Illinois	12,910,409	832	911	7.1
Indiana	6,423,113	632	693	10.8
Iowa	3,007,856	339	372	12.4
Kansas	2,818,747	348	386	13.7
Kentucky	4,314,113	730	791	18.3
Louisiana	4,492,076	726	821	18.3
Maine	1,318,301	153	159	12.1
Maryland	5,699,478	513	547	9.6
Massachusetts	6,593,587	308	334	5.1
Michigan	9,969,727	806	871	8.7
Minnesota	5,266,214	371	421	8.0
Mississippi	2,951,996	631	700	23.7
Missouri	5,987,580	786	878	14.7
Montana	974,989	198	221	22.7
Nebraska	1,796,619	205	223	12.4
Nevada	2,643,085	223	243	9.2
New Hampshire	1,324,575	97	110	8.3
New Jersey	8,707,739	549	583	6.7
New Mexico	2,009,671	319	361	18.0
New York	19,541,453	1,067	1,156	5.9
North Carolina	9,380,884	1,208	1,314	14.0
North Dakota	646,844	116	140	21.6
Ohio	11,542,645	944	1,021	8.8
Oklahoma	3,687,050	647	738	20.0
Oregon	3,825,657	331	377	9.9
Pennsylvania	12,604,767	1,143	1,256	10.0
Rhode Island	1,053,209	76	83	7.9
South Carolina	4,561,242	817	894	19.6
South Dakota	812,383	112	131	16.1
Tennessee	6,296,254	918	989	15.7
Texas	24,782,302	2,776	3,071	12.4
Utah	2,784,572	217	244	8.8
Vermont	621,760	69	74	11.9
Virginia	7,882,590	695	757	9.6
Washington	6,664,195	453	492	7.4
West Virginia	1,819,777	324	356	19.6
Wisconsin	5,654,774	505	561	9.9
Wyoming	544,270	116	134	24.6
U.S. Total	307,006,550	30,797	33,808	11.0

Nine states had at least 50 percent restraint use among fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants (California, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, and Washington). All of these states had at least 88 percent restraint use in the general front seat population.

States' rates of observed daytime front seatbelt use and number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by restraint use and state, 2009
State	Percent of observed seatbelt use	Restraint use of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants
		Restrained		Unrestrained		Unknown		Total
		Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	90	264	40	379	57	20	3	663
Alaska	86	19	48	12	30	9	22	40
Arizona	81	160	35	242	52	60	13	462
Arkansas	74	157	35	247	55	43	10	447
California	95	1,153	60	643	33	130	7	1,926
Colorado	81	125	41	168	55	11	4	304
Connecticut	86	58	39	70	47	22	15	150
Delaware	88	35	43	40	49	6	7	81
District of Columbia	93	2	20	4	40	4	40	10
Florida	85	625	41	847	56	44	3	1,516
Georgia	89	354	38	454	49	112	12	920
Hawaii	98	16	31	27	52	9	17	52
Idaho	79	67	41	90	55	7	4	164
Illinois	92	299	47	265	42	66	10	630
Indiana	93	241	48	206	41	55	11	502
Iowa	93	126	46	124	45	24	9	274
Kansas	77	110	37	171	57	20	7	301
Kentucky	80	265	43	353	57	2	< 1	620
Louisiana	75	193	33	351	61	35	6	579
Maine	83	50	43	50	43	17	15	117
Maryland	94	192	55	129	37	25	7	346
Massachusetts	74	60	28	112	52	43	20	215
Michigan	98	303	51	199	34	87	15	589
Minnesota	90	128	43	118	40	50	17	296
Mississippi	76	180	32	380	68	1	< 1	561
Missouri	77	220	32	418	61	49	7	687
Montana	79	57	35	102	62	5	3	164
Nebraska	85	59	32	108	58	20	11	187
Nevada	91	69	45	75	49	8	5	152
New Hampshire	69	30	38	49	62	—	—	79
New Jersey	93	182	54	144	43	11	3	337
New Mexico	90	137	52	124	48	—	—	261
New York	88	344	53	211	33	88	14	643
North Carolina	90	494	51	418	43	51	5	963
North Dakota	82	39	32	77	63	6	5	122
Ohio	84	268	37	399	56	50	7	717
Oklahoma	84	211	38	307	56	35	6	553
Oregon	97	151	56	96	36	21	8	268
Pennsylvania	88	310	36	447	52	102	12	859
Rhode Island	75	9	20	31	67	6	13	46
South Carolina	82	249	37	381	57	43	6	673
South Dakota	72	28	26	76	70	4	4	108
Tennessee	81	286	38	424	57	40	5	750
Texas	93	1,046	48	948	44	165	8	2,159
Utah	86	81	46	85	48	12	7	178
Vermont	85	23	42	28	51	4	7	55
Virginia	82	234	41	323	57	13	2	570
Washington	96	176	52	129	38	33	10	338
West Virginia	87	93	33	152	54	39	14	284
Wisconsin	74	149	36	232	57	28	7	409
Wyoming	68	31	28	78	71	1	< 1	110

Rural versus urban

Sixty-three percent of passenger vehicle occupant deaths in 2009 occurred in rural areas. All the passenger occupant deaths in New Hampshire occurred on rural roads compared with 10 percent in Massachusetts and zero deaths in the District of Columbia.

Number and percent of fatally injured passenger vehicle occupants by land use and state, 2009
State	Urban		Rural		Unknown		Total
State	Num	%	Num	%	Num	%	Num
Alabama	203	31	407	61	53	8	663
Alaska	17	42	23	58	0	0	40
Arizona	197	43	265	57	0	0	462
Arkansas	80	18	367	82	0	0	447
California	960	50	966	50	0	0	1,926
Colorado	108	36	196	64	0	0	304
Connecticut	123	82	27	18	0	0	150
Delaware	28	35	53	65	0	0	81
District of Columbia	10	100	0	0	0	0	10
Florida	757	50	712	47	47	3	1,516
Georgia	396	43	524	57	0	0	920
Hawaii	30	58	22	42	0	0	52
Idaho	25	15	139	85	0	0	164
Illinois	335	53	295	47	0	0	630
Indiana	202	40	300	60	0	0	502
Iowa	43	16	231	84	0	0	274
Kansas	34	11	267	89	0	0	301
Kentucky	99	16	521	84	0	0	620
Louisiana	227	39	352	61	0	0	579
Maine	7	6	110	94	0	0	117
Maryland	198	57	148	43	0	0	346
Massachusetts	193	90	22	10	0	0	215
Michigan	291	49	298	51	0	0	589
Minnesota	89	30	207	70	0	0	296
Mississippi	147	26	414	74	0	0	561
Missouri	222	32	465	68	0	0	687
Montana	7	4	157	96	0	0	164
Nebraska	24	13	163	87	0	0	187
Nevada	66	43	86	57	0	0	152
New Hampshire	0	0	79	100	0	0	79
New Jersey	282	84	55	16	0	0	337
New Mexico	54	21	207	79	0	0	261
New York	239	37	404	63	0	0	643
North Carolina	226	23	737	77	0	0	963
North Dakota	3	2	119	98	0	0	122
Ohio	217	30	499	70	1	< 1	717
Oklahoma	148	27	405	73	0	0	553
Oregon	38	14	230	86	0	0	268
Pennsylvania	377	44	482	56	0	0	859
Rhode Island	28	61	10	22	8	17	46
South Carolina	9	1	664	99	0	0	673
South Dakota	6	6	102	94	0	0	108
Tennessee	284	38	466	62	0	0	750
Texas	856	40	1,292	60	11	1	2,159
Utah	56	31	122	69	0	0	178
Vermont	4	7	50	91	1	2	55
Virginia	218	38	350	61	2	< 1	570
Washington	88	26	243	72	7	2	338
West Virginia	75	26	209	74	0	0	284
Wisconsin	121	30	288	70	0	0	409
Wyoming	12	11	98	89	0	0	110
U.S. total	8,459	36	14,848	63	130	1	23,437