Traffic deaths have fallen from their pandemic-era peak, but the risk of dying on the road still varies sharply depending on where Americans drive. In 2024, 39,254 people died in motor vehicle crashes in the United States, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s analysis of U.S. Department of Transportation data. That amounts to 11.5 deaths per 100,000 people and 1.19 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
To identify where drivers face the highest roadway fatality risk, Law Offices of Pius Joseph, a Pasadena personal injury law firm, reviewed 2024 state-level motor vehicle crash death rates using IIHS Fatality Facts data based on federal crash and mileage records.
Mississippi had the deadliest roads by miles driven
Mississippi had the highest motor vehicle crash death rate in the country in 2024, with 1.81 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. The state also had the highest population-based fatality rate, at 25.6 deaths per 100,000 residents.
Arizona ranked second by deaths per miles driven, with 1.74 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. South Carolina followed at 1.67. Arkansas and Tennessee rounded out the top five, with rates of 1.53 and 1.52, respectively.
The lowest fatality rate by miles driven was in Massachusetts, at 0.59 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Rhode Island had the lowest rate by population, at 4.7 deaths per 100,000 people.
The biggest states had the most deaths, but not always the highest risk
Fatality Facts 2024 Analysis // Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
Texas recorded the highest number of motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024, with 4,160 fatalities. California followed with 3,876, and Florida had 3,138. But none of those states ranked among the five deadliest by miles driven.
Texas had 1.35 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, California had 1.19, and Florida had 1.26. By comparison, Mississippi’s rate was 1.81, meaning the fatality risk per mile traveled was higher even though the state had far fewer total deaths than Texas or California.
IIHS notes that many factors can affect state fatality rates, including vehicle types, travel speeds, licensure rates, state traffic laws, emergency care capabilities, weather, and topography.
Rural roads remain a major part of the safety gap
Fatality Facts 2024 Analysis // Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
Nationwide, 16,006 of 39,254 motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024 occurred in rural areas, or 41%. Rural deaths accounted for a majority of crash deaths in each of the five states highlighted here: Montana, 79% (163 deaths); Arkansas, 68% (411); Mississippi, 67% (505); Kentucky, 62% (438); and West Virginia, 56% (144).
Rural roads often carry different risks than urban streets. Drivers may encounter higher speeds, longer distances to emergency services, fewer divided highways, limited lighting, and more two-lane roads, where run-off-road crashes or head-on collisions can be fatal. The data does not show that rural roads alone explain a state’s fatality rate, but it shows that rural crash deaths remain a major feature in many high-risk states.
Single-vehicle crashes accounted for most roadway deaths
Fatality Facts 2024 Analysis // Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
More than half of U.S. motor vehicle crash deaths in 2024 occurred in single-vehicle crashes. Nationwide, single-vehicle crashes accounted for 52% of motor vehicle crash deaths, while multiple-vehicle crashes accounted for 48%.
Several states near the top of the fatality-rate rankings had single-vehicle shares above the national average. Mississippi had 58% of deaths in single-vehicle crashes, Montana had 60%, Arkansas had 57%, West Virginia had 57%, and Oregon had 55%.
Single-vehicle crashes can include vehicles leaving the roadway, rollovers, collisions with fixed objects, and other crashes involving only one moving vehicle. They can reflect a mix of roadway conditions and driver behaviors, including speed, impairment, fatigue, distraction, restraint use, weather, and road design.
Speeding was a factor in nearly 3 in 10 deaths
Fatality Facts 2024 Analysis // Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
Speeding was involved in 29% of motor vehicle crash deaths nationwide in 2024. The highest shares were in Vermont, where speeding was a factor in 54% of crash deaths, and in Alaska, where it was involved in 50% of crash deaths.
Among the states with the highest death rates per mile driven, speeding involvement varied widely. Arizona had speeding involved in 36% of motor vehicle crash deaths; South Carolina had 38%; Montana had 43%; and Nevada had 33%. Mississippi, despite having the highest fatality rate overall, had speeding involved in 17% of crash deaths.
The variation shows that no single factor explains why roads are deadlier in some states than others. Fatality rates can reflect a combination of roadway design, travel speeds, enforcement, driver behavior, vehicle mix, emergency response, and geography.
Roadway risk looks different depending on who is traveling
Fatality Facts 2024 Analysis // Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
The types of people killed in crashes also varied by state. Nationally, 30% of motor vehicle crash deaths were car occupants, 27% were pickup or SUV occupants, 16% were motorcyclists, 18% were pedestrians, and 3% were bicyclists.
Montana had the highest percentage of deaths involving SUV and pickup occupants, at 47%. South Carolina had the highest percentage of car occupants, at 38%. Hawaii had a comparatively high share of pedestrian, bicyclist, and motorcyclist deaths, with pedestrians accounting for 34%, bicyclists 7%, and motorcyclists 25% of crash deaths in the state.
Those differences matter because road safety risks are not experienced the same way by every road user. In some states, the deadliest crashes are more concentrated among vehicle occupants on rural roads. In others, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists make up a larger share of the fatality burden.
Where the numbers point
The latest data above shows that roadway safety remains deeply uneven across the country. The states with the deadliest roads were not defined by one common pattern. Some had high rural fatality shares. Others had high speeding involvement. Some had more single-vehicle deaths, while others saw a larger share of deaths among pedestrians, motorcyclists, or occupants of specific vehicle types.
Together, the figures show how much a driver’s risk can depend on where a trip takes place. Personal choices behind the wheel matter, but so do road design, traffic laws, enforcement, emergency response, and the conditions drivers encounter long before a crash happens.
