What the Data Shows

Over the 2015-2023 reporting window, New Hampshire recorded 1,098 total road fatalities across 10 counties, with 130 deaths logged in 2023. The state's fatality rate stands at 9.3 per 100,000 residents and 1.0 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, placing it at rank #40 of 51 US states when ordered from highest to lowest fatality rate. Against the national benchmark of 12.2 per 100K, New Hampshire is 23.8% below average, a gap that matters for insurers, policymakers, and drivers calibrating risk.

Cause breakdowns from NHTSA FARS show alcohol-impaired crashes accounting for 26.2% of New Hampshire's fatalities (288 deaths), speeding for 36.8% (404 deaths), and pedestrian incidents for 10.0% (110 deaths). The single largest contributing factor is unrestrained, involved in 623 of the state's road deaths. Because these categories overlap, a nighttime fatal crash may also involve alcohol and speeding, the percentages are not additive but do reveal where enforcement and infrastructure investment can most reduce future deaths.

The trend signal is equally important: New Hampshire's annual fatality count is increasing, changing +14.0% across the reporting period. Annual deaths moved from 114 in 2015 to 130 in 2023. Rural roads account for 588 deaths versus 506 on urban roads, a pattern that typically reflects longer emergency-response distances and higher travel speeds outside metro areas. Readers should treat this as descriptive data, not a ranking of driver quality, and always cross-reference the underlying FARS release for year-specific context.