What is Connecticut's road fatality rate?

Connecticut has a road fatality rate of 8.5 per 100,000 population and 1.0 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 30.4% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Connecticut in 2023?

In 2023, Connecticut recorded 308 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 2,673.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Connecticut?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 51.7% of all fatalities (1,382 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Connecticut?

Road fatalities in Connecticut are increasing with a +14.1% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 270 in 2015 to 308 in 2023.

How does Connecticut compare to the national average for road safety?

Connecticut's fatality rate of 8.5 per 100K is 30.4% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Connecticut ranks #42 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Connecticut's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 32.0% of road fatalities in Connecticut, representing 856 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 33.1% and pedestrian incidents for 18.7%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Connecticut?

In Connecticut, urban roads account for more fatalities: 384 rural vs. 2,265 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 14.4% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Connecticut: lower-rate fatality band

Connecticut is in the lower per-capita third: 308 traffic deaths in 2023 at 8.5 per 100,000 (#42 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

308
Deaths (2023): 8.5
Per 100k residents: Below average; 1.0
Per 100M VMT: -58
2022–2023 deaths

Lower per-capita fatality band

Connecticut ranks #42 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (8.5/100k) - bottom-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

Connecticut in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Connecticut sits in the lower-rate third at 8.5 per 100k (#42 of 51), 30% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#42 of 51
lower-rate third: 8.5/100k
2023 fatality rate: #35/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

308 2023 Fatalities, By Roadway Setting

87%

Urban 268 (87.0%)
Rural 39 (12.7%)
Trafficway Not in State Inventory 1 (0.3%)

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost CT · Connecticut #42 of 51 · 8.5/100k

Connecticut · 8.5/100k · 308 in 2023 · #42 of 51

BOOK 8.5/100k
ALC #42 of 51
SPD 1.0/100M
PED 2,673 book
RUR near Alaska
VS-US 33.1% spd
PHOTO 18.7% ped
YOY -30.4% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

C-

Road Safety Index

51/100

Connecticut

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate A-

8.5/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate B+

1.01/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety F

18.7%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control F

32.0%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+14.1%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Connecticut

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Connecticut's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 13.3%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 42.2% · 130
Pedestrian 13.3% · 41
Curb 6.2% · 19
Tree (Standing Only) 5.8% · 18
Embankment 3.9% · 12

Light condition

Daylight 40.3% · 124
Dark - Lighted 35.1% · 108
Dark - Not Lighted 15.9% · 49
Dusk 4.5% · 14
Dawn 2.3% · 7

Roadway class

State Highway 42.5% · 131
Township 19.2% · 59
Interstate 17.9% · 55
U.S. Highway 13.3% · 41
Municipal 6.5% · 20

Weather at crash

Clear 81.5% · 251
Rain 8.8% · 27
Cloudy 5.5% · 17
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.9% · 6
Snow 0.6% · 2

Alaska

8
Utah

8
Connecticut

9
New Hampshire

9
Pennsylvania

9
Maine

10

What this shows Connecticut sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

52
Unrestrained

35
Speeding

33
Alcohol-Impaired

32
Pedestrian

19
Weather-Related

16

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Connecticut, involved in 51.7% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Connecticut vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

9 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 80% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Connecticut plotted against a representative sample of 27 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Connecticut can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Connecticut's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, Connecticut moved from 270 deaths in 2015 to 308 in 2023 (+14.1%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	270	7.5	100	76	46
2016	304	8.4	91	82	59
2017	281	7.8	109	89	49
2018	293	8.1	103	100	59
2019	249	6.9	89	64	54
2020	299	8.3	110	106	59
2021	303	8.4	71	123	55
2022	366	10.1	83	142	72
2023	308	8.5	100	103	47

New Haven leads Connecticut's county fatality book

New Haven County alone accounts for 27.5% of Connecticut's 2,403 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (662 deaths).

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	NEW HAVEN (9)	662	71	73.6	↑ increasing
2	HARTFORD (3)	571	71	63.4	↑ increasing
3	FAIRFIELD (1)	424	63	47.1	↑ increasing
4	NEW LONDON (11)	218	29	24.2	↑ increasing
5	LITCHFIELD (5)	168	26	18.7	↑ increasing
6	WINDHAM (15)	133	14	14.8	↑ increasing
7	MIDDLESEX (7)	114	18	12.7	↑ increasing
8	TOLLAND (13)	113	16	12.6	↑ increasing

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, Alaska (8.2/100k) and Utah (8.2/100k) bracket Connecticut's 8.5 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Connecticut's fatality rate.

Alaska

8.2 per 100K

60 fatalities (2023)

Utah

8.2 per 100K

280 fatalities (2023)

New Hampshire

9.3 per 100K

130 fatalities (2023)

Pennsylvania

9.3 per 100K

1,211 fatalities (2023)

Maine

9.7 per 100K

135 fatalities (2023)

Illinois

9.9 per 100K

1,241 fatalities (2023)

New Haven County and related Connecticut road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Connecticut (#42 of 51; volume #35/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →