Wrong-Way Traffic Crashes, Deaths By State: See The Numbers

ACROSS AMERICA — Thousands of Americans have been killed in wrong-way crashes over the past decade plus.

Deaths from wrong-way crashes have been on the uptick in recent years, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety said in a recently released study that looked at the number of wrong-way crashes on divided highways nationwide.

Wrong-way driving crashes caused 2,008 deaths between 2015 and 2018, an average of about 500 per year, compared with an average of 375 deaths per year from 2010 to 2014, the data shows. That’s an increase of more than 33 percent in the four most recent years included in the study.

“Wrong-way crashes on divided highways are often fatal as they are typically head-on collisions,” Dr. David Yang, executive director of the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, said in a recent news release. “And unfortunately, as the data shows, fatalities from these crashes are on the rise.”

Texas has seen the most deaths from wrong-way crashes, with an average of 67.7 per year. Florida had the next highest yearly average with 34.4.

Outside the District of Columbia, which didn’t have any wrong-way crashes reported from 2010-2018, New Hampshire and Vermont tied for having the fewest with a 0.2 yearly average.

The AAA Foundation said its research showed the odds of being a wrong-way driver increased with alcohol impairment, older age, and driving without a passenger.

Drunken driving was the top factor, said Dr. Rob Molloy, director of the National Transportation Safety Board, which partnered with the AAA Foundation on the report. The study found that about 60 percent of the wrong-way crashes reported during the eight-year period involved a driver with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.

“We need to redouble our efforts to address this safety hazard,” Molloy said in a news release. “We know that interventions like ignition interlock devices for all offenders and high-visibility enforcement operations will reduce these types of devastating crashes.”

Here are the totals, by state, from 2010-2018, via the AAA Foundation:

State, Wrong-Way Fatal Crashes, Wrong-Way Crash Deaths, Average Deaths Per Year

• Alabama: 63, 83, 9.2
• Alaska: 2, 2, 0.2
• Arizona: 72, 107, 11.9
• Arkansas: 37, 48, 5.3
• California: 241, 338, 37.6
• Colorado: 58, 73, 8.1
• Connecticut: 39, 49, 5.4
• Delaware: 12, 15, 1.7
• District of Columbia: 0, 0, 0.0
• Florida: 226, 310, 34.4
• Georgia: 112, 135, 15.0
• Hawaii: 3, 3, 0.3
• Idaho: 14, 22, 2.4
• Illinois: 83, 10, 11.9
• Indiana: 44, 60, 6.7
• Iowa: 33, 45, 5.0
• Kansas: 57, 71, 7.9
• Kentucky: 33, 39, 4.3
• Louisiana: 57, 76, 8.4
• Maine: 3, 4, 0.4
• Maryland: 52, 68, 7.6
• Massachusetts: 32, 46, 5.1
• Michigan: 56, 86, 9.6
• Minnesota: 32, 41, 4.6
• Mississippi: 63, 89, 9.9
• Missouri: 119, 152, 16.9
• Montana: 14, 22, 2.4
• Nebraska: 8, 10, 1.1
• Nevada: 51, 70, 7.8
• New Hampshire: 2, 2, 0.2
• New Jersey: 48, 56, 6.2
• New Mexico: 13, 21, 2.3
• New York: 65, 80, 8.9
• North Carolina: 38, 48, 5.3
• North Dakota: 9, 13, 1.4
• Ohio: 90, 122, 13.6
• Oklahoma: 72, 91, 10.1
• Oregon: 22, 28, 3.1
• Pennsylvania: 99, 124, 13.8
• Rhode Island: 13, 15, 1.7
• South Carolina: 58, 70, 7.8
• South Dakota: 12, 22, 2.4
• Tennessee: 100, 120, 13.3
• Texas: 446, 609, 67.7
• Utah: 19, 30, 3.3
• Vermont: 1, 2, 0.2
• Virginia: 72, 96, 10.7
• Washington: 57, 68, 7.6
• West Virginia: 22, 33, 3.7
• Wisconsin: 36, 51, 5.7
• Wyoming: 11, 13, 1.4