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MLK weekend is around the corner and millions of Americans will be hitting the road to enjoy the long weekend. Unfortunately, most holidays are also associated with an increase in car accidents.
To help drivers understand the increased driving risk, researchers at TruckInfo.net analyzed data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and found the following:
While fatalities had declined from 2006-2011 and then remained relatively flat, 2021 had the most driving fatalities since 2006.
While driving under the influence is the biggest cause of fatalities during the year, speeding is the biggest cause of fatalities on MLK weekend.
Surprisingly, the largest metro areas don't always have the most driving fatalities over MLK weekend. In fact, two of the most dangerous roadways by total fatalities are located in counties with populations under 100k.
From 2001 to 2021, the following roadways had the most fatalities during MLK weekend:
Mississippi has more than 3.5x the driving fatalities per capita than the median state.
Fatal accident statistics were sourced from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and population data from the US Census Bureau. The MLK weekend holiday period was defined as the Friday through Monday of MLK Jr Day. Unless otherwise noted, all fatality statistics are the sum of total fatalities from 2001 to 2021 (the most recent data available).