America's 100 Deadliest Driving Days: 10 States Got Worse While Summer Traffic Deaths Fell 8.1%

Mississippi, South Dakota and Iowa saw higher summer fatality rates in the most recent data than they did two years earlier, even as the national summer death toll fell 8.1% over the same period. MoneyGeek analyzed three consecutive summers of NHTSA crash data and FHWA traffic volume data across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., and found that 10 states moved in the wrong direction while 41 improved. The spread between the safest and most dangerous summer driving states is now 2.8-to-1: Mississippi's rate of 1.88 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled is nearly triple Massachusetts' rate of 0.67. Meanwhile, summer teen driver fatalities rose 17.2% over two years, running counter to every other age group.

The AAA Foundation has long identified the roughly 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day as the deadliest stretch of the American driving calendar, particularly for young drivers. MoneyGeek's analysis covers the full calendar months of June through August as a proxy for that window.

In the most recent summer, 113 Americans died on average every day. That daily count is down from roughly 123 two summers earlier, and it tracks with a broader post-2021 recovery. U.S. annual traffic deaths jumped from 36,355 in 2019 to 43,230 in 2021, a surge of 18.9%. The decline that began in mid-2022 has brought national fatalities roughly back to pre-pandemic levels, but not below them.

The "roads are getting safer" headline is true nationally. It's incomplete at the state level.

The states with the highest summer fatality rates share a common profile: large rural highway networks, high speed limits on undivided roads and long distances between trauma centers. Six of the seven most dangerous states are in the South or Mountain West.

Mississippi ranked as the most dangerous large state at 1.88 deaths per 100 million VMT, with its rate rising 11.9% over the study period. Massachusetts had the safest summer roads at 0.67, roughly one-third of Mississippi's rate. The divide between those two states reflects compounding differences in road design, speed limits and enforcement patterns.

Most states didn't move in a straight line. Of the 51 jurisdictions in this study, 27 changed direction between the first and second year-over-year comparisons. Texas added 91 summer deaths one year, then cut 114 the next, ending with a net improvement of 5.6%. Georgia swung even harder: its rate rose slightly, then plunged 25.2% to 0.98, the largest rate drop among states with more than 300 summer deaths. Iowa moved the opposite direction, spiking 29.9% and only partially recovering, netting an 18.7% worsening over the study period.

Crashes with a fatally injured driver aged 15 to 20 reached 635 in the most recent summer, up from 542 at the start of the study. That 17.2% increase in teen driver fatalities over two years runs directly counter to the 8.1% decline in overall summer deaths, and unlike many state-level patterns in this data, it worsened both years running. Texas led all states with 68 teen summer fatalities. Arizona's count nearly doubled, from 12 to 23.

AAA Foundation research links the summer teen spike to increased nighttime driving, more passengers in the vehicle and longer highway trips that exceed new drivers' experience. For families with teens on the road, adding a young driver to a parent's policy is usually cheaper than a separate plan, and rates for the same teen can vary by hundreds of dollars across carriers.

NHTSA's latest release (April 1, 2026) provides fresh context. Full-year 2024 FARS data shows 39,254 deaths, down 4.3% from the prior year. The preliminary 2025 estimate of 36,640 deaths would, if confirmed, represent a return to pre-pandemic levels and the second-lowest fatality rate in FARS history at 1.10 per 100 million VMT. Thirty-nine states plus D.C. showed full-year decreases. The announcement coincided with Distracted Driving Awareness Month; distracted driving remains a leading contributor to summer fatalities nationally.

But the summer data is a warning. The structural factors that correlate with persistent high fatality rates, rural highway design, high speed limits on undivided roads, limited EMS access, don't disappear because the national average improves. Each year of elevated rates recalibrates what insurers consider normal for that state, and each summer adds to the human toll.

The 113 daily deaths of the most recent summer are a baseline, not a destiny.

Traffic fatality trends feed the actuarial models that set state-level auto insurance premiums. When a state's fatality rate rises, insurers pay out more claims and reserve more capital against future liability. Those costs eventually flow to policyholders.

The directional relationship is well established. States with sustained rate deterioration over the study period, including Mississippi, Iowa and South Dakota, are more likely to see upward pressure on loss ratios in upcoming rate filings. Insurers use multi-year averages, so a single bad year may not immediately appear in your renewal quote, but consecutive years of elevated rates will.

If you live in a state that worsened, review how much car insurance you need before summer. Your state's risk profile has shifted.

Higher uninsured-motorist coverage may be worth the added cost in states with rising fatality rates, where the odds of a crash involving an underinsured driver also increase.

If you live in a state that improved consistently (Indiana, Oklahoma, California, Louisiana), compare car insurance rates at renewal. Loss ratios in improving states should, over time, translate to more competitive pricing.

The table below ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C., by summer fatality rate, with a secondary ranking by trajectory. Use the Danger Rank to find where your state falls today. Use the Trend Rank and Pattern columns to see whether it's heading the right direction.

Danger Rank = rank by 2024 summer fatality rate (1 = most dangerous). Trend Rank = rank by rate change from 2022 to 2024 (1 = most deteriorated). Rate = deaths per 100 million VMT. 

Bolded states worsened over the study period (10 total). † = fewer than 25 summer fatalities in any year; interpret percentage changes with caution.

MoneyGeek analyzed traffic fatality data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for June, July and August across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., for 2022, 2023 and 2024. Summer fatality counts were normalized per 100 million vehicle miles traveled using Federal Highway Administration Traffic Volume Trends monthly state-level VMT data.