Thanksgiving Is Deadliest Driving Holiday and Young People Are Biggest Casualties
Henry Hoenig
· 2 min read
Thanksgiving is arguably the biggest U.S. holiday of the year, a time when people travel all over the country to gather with family. It is also the deadliest driving holiday, topping both Labor Day and the Fourth of July for fatal crashes.
One thing that Thanksgiving has in common with those summer driving holidays: Young people are the most frequent casualties, and a majority of fatal crashes involve either alcohol consumption or excessive speed or both.
Key Insights
- The Thanksgiving holiday period ranks as the deadliest major holiday for American drivers, with 6% more fatal crashes than Labor Day, the second-deadliest, and 43% more than Christmas, the least deadly.
- Over the past 15 years, more than 7,000 people have lost their lives on the road during the Thanksgiving holiday period (defined by this study and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving through the Monday morning after).
- One quarter of all people killed in Thanksgiving traffic crashes in the past 15 years were between the ages of 16 and 25 years old. Of all fatalities, 69% were male.
- Nearly two-thirds (60%) of all fatal crashes during the Thanksgiving holiday involve either alcohol or speeding.
- The most fatalities are seen on Saturdays. The most dangerous hours are early evening.
- Half of all fatal crashes during Thanksgiving take place in rural areas, and 56% involve a vehicle leaving the roadway.
Saturday, which includes the early morning hours after midnight Friday, sees the most fatal crashes during the holiday week. Friday is a close second, including early morning hours after Thanksgiving and throughout the day on Black Friday.
The number of fatal crashes rises throughout each day of the holiday period, peaking in the early evenings. The three most treacherous hours of the week are all at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Sunday and Thursday. With the exception of Thursday and Sunday nights, fatal crashes remain elevated between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. The early morning hours of Monday see the fewest as celebrations peter out and people head back to work.
Unlike with some
other holidays
, no smaller states made the list of 10 states with the most total fatalities over the past 15 years. 
When it comes to fatalities per capita, though, smaller states dominate the list. All could be considered Southern or Western states. Among them, only Oklahoma is home to a city that ranks among the top 30 in the U.S. in population.
Los Angeles stands out as the city with the most Thanksgiving traffic fatalities — 57% more than second-ranked Houston. But overall cities in Texas dominate the list of those with the most fatal crashes over Thanksgiving.
To isolate potential danger zones, Jerry looked at which roads, grouped by county, had the most fatal crashes. Stretches of two highways located within Los Angeles County topped the list. Two roads in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area also made the list.
Methodology
Jerry examined traffic fatality data during the Thanksgiving holiday period from the NHTSA for the years 2006 through 2020, the last year for which NHTSA data was available. The NHTSA defines the Thanksgiving holiday period as 6 p.m. Wednesday through 5:59 a.m. Monday.
