These are the Most Dangerous States for Pedestrians During the Holidays – Michigan Ranks 22nd with 20.5% of its Pedestrian Fatalities Occurring in the Period

Image by Alexa from Pixabay 

Article courtesy of Ladah Law Firm 

• New Hampshire sees the steepest seasonal spike, with nearly one in three pedestrian deaths happening in November and December.
• Maine and Idaho follow close behind, with shorter days and darker evenings coinciding with more than a quarter of pedestrian deaths.
• California has the highest total number of pedestrian deaths overall, with nearly 10,000 fatalities over the past decade.

Every winter, shorter days and busier streets make the holidays one of the riskiest times to be a pedestrian in America. And according to a new study, nowhere is that risk greater than in the northern states.

Experts at Ladah Law Firm looked into ten years of data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) to uncover where holiday-season walking turns most deadly.

Michigan findings:

Michigan ranks 22nd for holiday pedestrian fatalities, with 1,606 deaths overall and 329 occurring in November and December – 20.5% of its total. This places Michigan almost exactly at the U.S. average.

Compared with its neighbours, Michigan’s share is lower than Ohio (22.8%) and Indiana (19.1%), but higher than Wisconsin (18.1%), positioning it in the middle for the Great Lakes region.

Top 10 states with the highest holiday pedestrian fatality rates

It turns out that New Hampshire takes the unwanted top spot. Nearly one in three fatalities (29.5%) happen in November and December – 36 deaths out of 122 recorded over the last decade.

Maine follows close behind, with 29% of pedestrian deaths taking place in the same two months. The state recorded 45 holiday-season fatalities out of 155 total.

In Idaho, more than a quarter (27.4%) of pedestrian deaths occur in November and December – 45 out of 164 overall – showing how shorter days coincide with rising danger.

Coming in fourth is Delaware, where 72 out of 289 pedestrian deaths (24.9%) took place during the holiday season.

Rhode Island follows close behind. Out of 114 total pedestrian deaths, 28 occurred in November and December (24.6%), most of them on dimly lit city streets.

In Washington, 264 of the state’s 1,076 pedestrian fatalities happened during the holiday months – around 24.5% of its total.

Massachusetts ranks seventh, with 180 out of 745 pedestrian deaths (24.2%) happening in November and December. Oregon follows close behind, recording 194 of 807 fatalities (24%) during the same period.

Connecticut follows in ninth place, with 23.8% of pedestrian deaths in November and December – almost half under streetlights that failed to prevent fatal collisions.

Rounding out the top ten, South Dakota saw 24 of its 102 pedestrian deaths (23.5%) happen during the holiday months.

The safest states for pedestrians during the holidays

But pedestrians in other parts of the country can breathe a little easier. In fact, North Dakota is the safest state for pedestrians during the holidays, with just 11 deaths – 15.1% of its total fatalities – recorded in November and December.

Wyoming follows with 16.7% of its pedestrian deaths occurring during the holiday months, meaning only 12 out of 72 fatalities happened at the end of the year.

In Utah, 69 out of 389 pedestrian deaths (17.7%) happened during the same two months, while Louisiana shows a similar trend – out of 1,389 pedestrian fatalities, 249 (17.9%) took place in November and December.

Wisconsin completes the bottom five. Out of 553 pedestrian deaths, only 100 (18.1%) were recorded during the holiday months, giving the state the lowest share among the northern states.

The study shows that darkness remains one of the biggest factors behind pedestrian deaths nationwide. Across all 50 states, nearly three-quarters (74%) of fatalities happen after dark. More than a third (35%) occur on roads with no lighting at all, while another 39% take place on streets that are only partially lit.

States with the highest holiday fatality rates also tend to have the poorest lighting. In Delaware, almost 60% of pedestrian deaths throughout the year happen in total darkness – the highest share in the country – followed by Arkansas (57.6%) and South Dakota (52.9%).

The data also highlights where total fatalities are most concentrated. California, Florida, and Texas recorded the largest numbers of pedestrian deaths over the past decade, with 9,901, 7,009, and 6,677 fatalities, respectively.

Because of their size and population, these states also see the greatest number of incidents during the holidays, though their cases are more evenly spread across the year. In November and December, California records 20.5% of its annual pedestrian fatalities, Florida 20%, and Texas 19.6%.

“The shorter days during November and December create extended hours of darkness when pedestrians are still active,” said Ramzy Ladah, owner and lead attorney at Ladah Law Firm.

“This seasonal shift clearly impacts pedestrian safety, particularly in northern states where darkness falls even earlier – and in places like Delaware, where nearly 60% of those deaths happen on unlit roads, the danger is impossible to ignore.”

“A lot of these tragedies could be happening simply because drivers can’t see someone until it’s too late. States with high holiday pedestrian death rates should consider investing in better street lighting and pedestrian safety infrastructure.”

Methodology:

Data was sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) for 2014–2023.

Researchers examined the percentage of each state’s pedestrian fatalities that occurred in November and December to identify where pedestrians face the greatest holiday-season risk.

Full data:

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