A new study revealed Texas to be the fourth-most dangerous state in the U.S. to drive at night.
The study, conducted by Arizona-based personal injury lawyers Zanes Law, analyzed fatal crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration between the years of 2017 to 2021 in an effort to see which states had the highest percentage of fatal crashes that occurred at night.
According to Zanes Law, the Lone Star State experienced 17,549 crashes during that time, with 10,087 vehicular crashes occurring at nighttime. This meant that 57.48% of fatal crashes in Texas happened after the sun went down, which was the fourth-highest percentage in the nation.
Coming in first as the most dangerous state to drive at night in was Hawaii, according to the study. While Hawaii only experienced 483 total crashes — the second-lowest amount out of every state in the top 10 — a whopping 285 of them occurred during nighttime, which led to a percentage of 59.01%.
Joining both Hawaii and Texas in the top five states were California (second place, with a nighttime crash percentage of 58.32%), Florida (third, 58.30%) and South Carolina (fifth, 56.75%).
Other states that found their way into the top 10 included Maryland (sixth, 56.37%), Connecticut (seventh, 55.98%), Rhode Island (eighth, 55.59%), Louisiana (ninth, 55.54%) and New Jersey (10th, 54.46%).
“While some may expect driving in the daytime to be more dangerous with more cars on the road, it’s the idea of wide open roads and limited visibility at night that can be the biggest risk factors,” said a spokesperson for Zanes Law. “What’s also interesting to see here, is states of similar size and population having such contrasting results when it comes to fatalities on the road.”
To learn more about Zanes Law, head to the website.
