Americas most dangerous states to drive in during 4th of July heres where NY ranks

The biggest danger may not be traffic this July Fourth weekend — it could be the state you’re driving through.North Dakota ranked as the nation’s most dangerous state for July 4th travel, recording 0.28 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.That’s more than seven times the rate of Rhode Island, which ranked safest at just 0.04, according to a new MoneyGeek analysis of federal crash data.From 2020 to 2024, the five most recent years of final federal crash data, 2,724 people were killed in US crashes during the holiday period.Independence Day is America’s second deadliest major holiday for drunk driving, second only to cocktail-happy New Year’s Eve — with 38% of drivers killed over the past five years legally drunk, the highest impaired-driver share of any major holiday.The study ranked every state and Washington, DC, by fatal crashes per 100 million miles driven — and the results may surprise drivers.After North Dakota, Delaware, Nevada, New Mexico and Montana rounded out the five most dangerous states.Many of the highest-risk states have something in common: long, high-speed rural highways, lighter traffic enforcement, lower population density and longer trips to trauma centers after serious crashes, researchers said.

“For New Yorkers and those from Jersey heading out on July 4th … the numbers are reassuring,” said Nathan Paulus, Head of Content and SEO at MoneyGeek.“New York ranks 39th and New Jersey 48th out of 51 states.

Both are safer than the national average per mile driven.”But alcohol remains one of the holiday’s biggest risk factors for all states.After Rhode Island, the safest states were Massachusetts at 50 with Hawaii close behind at 49, New Jersey at 48, Maryland at 47, New Hampshire taking the 46th spot and Virginia at 45.Arkansas and South Carolina recorded the highest share of drunk drivers involved in fatal crashes at 53%, followed by Iowa at 51% and Oregon and Connecticut coming in at 50% each.New York’s impaired-dr...