What is New York's road fatality rate?

New York has a road fatality rate of 5.7 per 100,000 population and 0.9 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 53.3% below the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in New York in 2023?

In 2023, New York recorded 1,114 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 9,578.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in New York?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 47.1% of all fatalities (4,511 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in New York?

Road fatalities in New York are decreasing with a -1.9% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 1,136 in 2015 to 1,114 in 2023.

How does New York compare to the national average for road safety?

New York's fatality rate of 5.7 per 100K is 53.3% lower than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, New York ranks #50 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of New York's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 18.1% of road fatalities in New York, representing 1,732 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 6.6% and pedestrian incidents for 26.3%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in New York?

In New York, urban roads account for more fatalities: 3,049 rural vs. 6,524 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 31.8% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

New York: lower-rate fatality band

New York is in the lower per-capita third: 1,114 traffic deaths in 2023 at 5.7 per 100,000 (#50 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,114
Deaths (2023): 5.7
Per 100k residents: Well below average; 0.9
Per 100M VMT: -68
2022–2023 deaths

Lower per-capita fatality band

New York ranks #50 of 51 by deaths per 100,000 residents (5.7/100k) - bottom-third rate among 51 states and D.C.

New York in the lower-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, New York sits in the lower-rate third at 5.7 per 100k (#50 of 51), 53% below the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#50 of 51
lower-rate third: 5.7/100k
2023 fatality rate: #11/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

NHTSA fatality milepost

Milepost NY · New York #50 of 51 · 5.7/100k

New York · 5.7/100k · 1,114 in 2023 · #50 of 51

YOY 5.7/100k
FARS #50 of 51
NHTSA 0.9/100M
MILE 9,578 book
BAND near District of Columbia
POST 6.6% spd
RATE 26.3% ped
RANK -53.3% 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 →

B-

Road Safety Index

69/100

New York

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+

5.7/100k

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

Exposure-Adjusted Rate A

0.93/100M VMT

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

Pedestrian Safety F

26.3%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A+

18.1%

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

Safety Trend F

-1.9%

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

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in New York

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, New York's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 24.9%, 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 35.6% · 398
Pedestrian 24.9% · 278
Tree (Standing Only) 8.9% · 99
Pedalcyclist 4.4% · 49
Rollover/Overturn 3.7% · 41

Light condition

Daylight 43.8% · 489
Dark - Lighted 31.4% · 351
Dark - Not Lighted 19.2% · 215
Dusk 3.2% · 36
Dawn 2.1% · 23

Roadway class

State Highway 39.2% · 438
Not Signed 30.7% · 343
County 15.2% · 170
Interstate 8.9% · 99
U.S. Highway 5.6% · 63

Weather at crash

Clear 59.3% · 662
Cloudy 26.9% · 301
Rain 10.4% · 116
Snow 1.4% · 16
Fog, Smog, Smoke 1.3% · 15

Massachusetts

5
New York

6
District of …

7
Hawaii

7
New Jersey

7
Rhode Island

7

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

Nighttime

47
Weather-Related

36
Unrestrained

28
Pedestrian

26
Alcohol-Impaired

18
Distracted

13

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in New York, involved in 47.1% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

New York vs all states by fatality rate

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

6 Among the safer states a lower per-capita rate than 96% 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

New York 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.

New York 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 New York's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the lower-rate third, New York moved from 1,136 deaths in 2015 to 1,114 in 2023 (-1.9%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	1,136	5.8	247	180	311
2016	1,041	5.3	196	130	307
2017	1,006	5.1	188	89	246
2018	964	4.9	228	63	268
2019	934	4.8	201	60	274
2020	1,045	5.3	224	43	229
2021	1,156	5.9	170	35	293
2022	1,182	6.0	142	21	304
2023	1,114	5.7	136	12	289

Suffolk leads New York's county fatality book

Suffolk County alone accounts for 13.0% of New York's 8,442 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (1,101 deaths); on a per-100k basis, Columbia sits higher at 28.1/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	SUFFOLK (103)	1,101	158	122.3	↑ increasing
2	NASSAU (59)	611	66	67.9	↑ increasing
3	QUEENS (81)	546	78	60.7	↑ increasing
4	KINGS (47)	513	63	57.0	↑ increasing
5	ERIE (29)	404	59	44.9	↑ increasing
6	MONROE (55)	369	48	41.0	↑ increasing
7	BRONX (5)	355	44	39.4	↑ increasing
8	NEW YORK (61)	295	33	32.8	↑ increasing
9	WESTCHESTER (119)	283	39	31.4	↑ increasing
10	ORANGE (71)	257	29	28.6	↑ increasing
11	ONONDAGA (67)	221	26	24.6	↑ increasing
12	DUTCHESS (27)	180	26	20.0	↑ increasing
13	ONEIDA (65)	162	24	18.0	↑ increasing
14	ALBANY (1)	159	25	17.7	↑ increasing
15	NIAGARA (63)	144	8	16.0	↑ increasing
16	SARATOGA (91)	133	14	14.8	↑ increasing
17	ULSTER (111)	130	14	14.4	↑ increasing
18	ROCKLAND (87)	126	19	14.0	↑ increasing
19	OSWEGO (75)	124	16	13.8	↑ increasing
20	BROOME (7)	101	7	11.2	↑ increasing

Showing top 20 of 62 counties by total fatalities.

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among lower-rate peers, District of Columbia (6.5/100k) and Hawaii (6.5/100k) bracket New York's 5.7 per 100k.

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

District of Columbia

6.5 per 100K

44 fatalities (2023)

Hawaii

6.5 per 100K

93 fatalities (2023)

Massachusetts

4.9 per 100K

343 fatalities (2023)

New Jersey

6.5 per 100K

606 fatalities (2023)

Rhode Island

6.5 per 100K

71 fatalities (2023)

Minnesota

7.1 per 100K

409 fatalities (2023)

Suffolk County and related New York 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 New York (#50 of 51; volume #11/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →

New York: lower-rate fatality band

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in New York

First harmful event

Light condition

Roadway class

Weather at crash

New York rate neighbourhood

Leading Causes of Fatalities

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

Suffolk leads New York's county fatality book

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Suffolk County and related New York road data