Finance company Value Penguin recently released a list of the states with the highest winter weather-related driving fatalities, compiled from statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
From 2013 to 2017, there were 2,718 fatalities that resulted from winter weather-related car crashes, as caused by snow, sleet or ice on U.S. roadways. However, as winters are harsher in some regions, there is a handful of states that account for a vast majority of these winter driving deaths.
Value Penguin analyzed the last five years' worth of data and found that hazardous conditions in the five worst states—Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio and Illinois—accounted for 36% of winter weather-related driving fatalities.
Michigan is by far the state with the highest number of winter weather-related driving fatalities, according to the report. Between 2013 and 2017, there were 282 fatalities in winter weather-related accidents, which is 85 more fatalities than the second-highest state. With an average of nearly 40 winter-driving deaths per year, Pennsylvania is the second-deadliest state for winter drivers, with 197 winter-driving fatalities. From 2013 to 2017, the state of New York had 183 winter-driving fatalities, making it the third-worst state in U.S. for winter-driving fatalities. However, the good news for residents of New York is that the number of winter-driving deaths per year has rapidly declined—dropping from 53 to 24 during the time frame 2013 to 2017.
Ohio has been one of the most dangerous states for driving in winter weather in recent years—registering the second most deaths of any state in 2017. In the past five years, there were 172 winter-driving fatalities in Ohio. Next on the list is Illinois, which registered an average of 27 winter-driving fatalities per year for the time period 2013 to 2017. Chicago was the single biggest contributor to the number of fatalities attributed to winter weather in Illinois.
Value Penguin compiled a full list of winter weather driving fatalities by state from 2013 to 2017. The list breaks down the average number of annual fatalities per 100 below-freezing days, the rank of annual fatalities per 100 below-freezing days and the total number of fatalities over those five years.
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Source: Value Penguin
