Posted on 01/04/2024 8:48:33 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Thousands of commuters around the world lose their lives in vehicular accidents each year, and in the U.S., the most dangerous time to drive can actually depend on which state you’re in.
According to the CDC, car crashes are the eighth leading cause of death globally, and the leading cause for young people between the ages of 5–29 years old. Each day, the U.S. alone sees an average of 102 fatal traffic accidents.
Visual Capitalist's Freny Fernandes introduces this graphic by Clunker Junker uses data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to identify the most dangerous time to drive in each state of the country, based on traffic fatalities.
On average, U.S. commuters lose over 50 hours of their time in rush hour traffic every year. In addition to being a frustrating drive, NHTSA data found that this time frame is also the most dangerous in some states.
The number of fatal traffic accidents across various parts of the U.S. increases after 5pm, peaking between 9pm and 10pm.
| State | Most Dangerous Time to Drive |
|---|---|
| Alabama | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Alaska | 2:00‒2:59 p.m. |
| Arizona | 7:00‒7:59 p.m. |
| Arkansas | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| California | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Colorado | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Connecticut | 7:00‒7:59 p.m. |
| Delaware | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Florida | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| Georgia | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| Hawaii | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| Idaho | 4:00‒4:59 p.m. |
| Illinois | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| Indiana | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Iowa | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Kansas | 1:00‒1:59 p.m. |
| Kentucky | 2:00‒2:59 p.m. |
| Louisiana | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Maine | 4:00‒4:59 p.m. |
| Maryland | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Massachusetts | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| Michigan | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Minnesota | 4:00‒4:59 p.m. |
| Mississippi | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| Missouri | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Montana | 2:00‒2:59 p.m. |
| Nebraska | 4:00‒4:59 p.m. |
| Nevada | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| New Hampshire | 2:00‒2:59 p.m. |
| New Jersey | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| New Mexico | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| New York | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| North Carolina | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| North Dakota | 4:00‒4:59 p.m. |
| Ohio | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| Oklahoma | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Oregon | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Pennsylvania | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Rhode Island | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| South Carolina | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| South Dakota | 1:00‒1:59 p.m. |
| Tennessee | 8:00‒8:59 p.m. |
| Texas | 9:00‒9:59 p.m. |
| Utah | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Vermont | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| Virginia | 6:00‒6:59 p.m. |
| Washington | 5:00‒5:59 p.m. |
| West Virginia | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Wisconsin | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
| Wyoming | 3:00‒3:59 p.m. |
This is reported to be an outcome of various factors: low visibility at night, glaring headlights, more cars on the road, and a higher number of drunk drivers. In some states, regional geography and weather also contribute to dangerous road conditions, including hills and mountains, rain, snow, and strong winds.
Another factor is congestion. More populated states with longer average commutes like California and Maryland had the most dangerous time to drive as later (between 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.), while central states with smaller populations like Kansas and South Dakota had earlier peak dangerous times (between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.)
The safest times to drive across all states? Early in the morning from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m.
While holidays are a time for relaxation and celebration, they can be hazardous on the roads.
According to NHTSA data, the summer and fall months are the most dangerous by average fatal accidents.
June through August are the peak months of vacation travel in the U.S. and see increased traffic (often on high-speed highways and unfamiliar roads) and fatalities. But September is actually the most dangerous month to drive in America, as the Labor Day weekend and the new school term bring new drivers to the roads.
Other popular U.S. holidays, including the Fourth of July, New Year’s Eve, and Halloween, are also more dangerous than average. In addition to increased instances of drinking and driving, many holidays involve long-distance travel, leading to fatigue.
And finally, according to the NHTSA, the U.S. sees an average of 4.68 fatal accidents on Saturdays making it the most dangerous day. This reaches a peak of over seven fatal accidents between 9 and 10pm every Saturday.
Detroit: days that end in “Y”, starting at 00:01 and ending in 23:59.
CC
Surprised to see states where the dangerous hour is 8:00 PM or later. Then I remember that that’s when the drunks are headed home after drinking their dinner.
CDC....what a joke...they do these stats. In our town, they put up cameras...when that didn’t fit their stats....they finally removed them.....but not really for that reason...because it was a particular demographic and city employees who were running the lights. lol
The Ford Freeway, where the weak will be killed and eaten.
Gee. Really?
Why is CDC involved? This isn’t a disease or illness. I think the agency needs to be reset to focus on diseases, medical diseases. Not driving, not Firearms.
I drove to Tennessee to see my son. I had to go through Nashville. It was so bad. I told my son I’m never coming back here again.
I broke down off of I-96 once at 2AM. I then knew how Custer felt at Little Big Horn.
CC
Yeah, it gets real dark at night there...
Kind of makes it tough to plan a long trip if you have to keep clear of every state at a different time.
I gave out night vision glasses for Christmas. The blue light blocking glasses that reduce glare. Found them on Amazon 3 for $6.
“Found them on Amazon 3 for $6”
D!-good price there. I just use my $30 fishing glasses. Few years ago ordered a pair of Spiderwire rimless via walmart.com. They sent a 6-pack of them. I Frequently get over-sent stuff with WM. Ordered a $70 bug zapper a few months ago. Received four! That never happens with Amazon.
That happened to me once with Walmart. Ordered a spool of 3d printer filament and they sent a whole case.
No contact information for seller so I posed a review as “Happily Oversuoplied” informing them of their mistake. Never heard back.
100 deaths a day? Worse death toll than Iraq and Afghanistan combined!!
Need to pull out. No more blood for autos!
15-minute cities will save lives. Why does anyone need to drive?
Incarceration is passion.
Drove through Atlanta day after New Years. Almost got sideswiped twice. Daughter behind me got hit and run. Driving in our proper lane at appropriate speed. 285 gauntlet
For some reason, in the past five years, there has been an amazing increase of people driving the wrong way on the interstates in Connecticut.
That made me think of the old joke about the elderly driver whose wife calls him to warn that she’s just heard of a wrong-way driver on the stretch of interstate where he’s traveling. The guy says, “Hell, there’s hundreds of ‘em!”
In Houston it’s 24-7, 365 days a year, there are no holidays or days off.
Florida 8:00‒8:59 p.m
Just the other day a kid (22yo) on a motorcycle was killed. A lady was making a left hand turn into our development from US 1 around 8:15 pm. The kid on the MC was doing 120-140 mph. Died.
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