The Most Dangerous Roads During Easter Weekend

Millions of Americans will drive to see friends and family this Easter weekend. While spirits are usually high, the holiday weekend is also associated with increased traffic accidents.

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To help drivers understand the increased risk, researchers at TruckInfo.net analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They found the following:

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#1: Driving fatalities at Easter spiked to a 20-year high post-Covid

While fatalities during Easter had been steadily declining since 2002, there was a jump in fatalities in 2021 – almost doubling compared to 2020.

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#2: Speeding & drunk driving are major issues during Easter weekend

While Easter weekend isn’t typically considered a “party” weekend, the holiday still sees significantly more accidents involving drunk drivers than other days of the year.

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#3: Three of the most dangerous roads are in counties with populations under 100k

Surprisingly, small counties have some of the most dangerous roads during Easter weekend when looking at total driving fatalities.

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From 2001 to 2021, the following roadways had the most driving fatalities during Easter weekend:

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1. I-15 in San Bernardino, CA: 12 (population 2.2M)
2. I-40 in San Bernardino, CA: 10 (population 2.2M)
3. I-4 in Orange, FL: 9 (population 1.4M)
4. I-40 in Cibola, NM: 9 (population 27k)
5. I-40-52 in Crittenden, AR: 9 (population 47k)
6. US-1 in Miami-Dade, FL: 9 (population 2.7M)
7. I-10 in Maricopa, AZ: 8 (population 4.5M)
8. I-10 in Riverside, CA: 9 (population 2.4M)
9. I-20 in Parker, TX: 8 (population 157k)
10. I-77 in Carroll, VA: 7 (population 29k)

#4: States in the South have significantly more driving fatalities per capita than the rest of the nation

Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas all have twice the rate of driving fatalities compared to the national average.

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Full Data

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Methodology

Fatal accident statistics were sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and population data from the US Census Bureau. Easter weekend was defined as the Friday through Monday of Easter Sunday. Unless otherwise noted, all fatality statistics are the sum of total fatalities from 2001 to 2021 (the most recent data available).