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How Many People Die in Snow and Ice Crashes Each Year?

Published 5 min read By Live Accident Tracker Editorial

Quick answer: On snowy, slushy or icy roads in the United States, over 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,800 are injured every year, according to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Nearly 900 more people are killed and nearly 76,000 injured each year in crashes that happen while snow or sleet is actually falling. Snow and ice account for 24% of all weather-related crashes in the country.

The toll on snowy and icy roads

The FHWA counts two overlapping groups, and keeping them apart matters. The first is crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement, whatever the weather is doing at the time. The second is crashes that happen during snowfall or sleet. Roads stay icy long after the snow stops falling, which is why the pavement figure is the larger of the two.

  • Each year, 24% of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy, slushy or icy pavement.
  • 15% of weather-related crashes happen during snowfall or sleet.
  • Over 1,300 people are killed and more than 116,800 are injured in crashes on snowy, slushy or icy pavement annually.
  • Nearly 900 people are killed and nearly 76,000 are injured in crashes during snowfall or sleet every year.

These are annual averages, not the count for any single year. A severe winter can be worse and a mild one better, but the scale does not change: snow and ice kill more than a thousand Americans a year and injure more than a hundred thousand.

Where snow and ice reach

Snow is not a local problem. It covers most of the country and most of the population.

  • Over 70% of the nation's roads are in snowy regions that receive more than five inches (13 cm) of average snowfall a year.
  • Nearly 70% of the US population lives in these regions.
  • The South Eastern and South Central parts of the country are largely free of snow, according to the FHWA's map of snowy regions.

In northern states, November brings the first snow and ice of the season, before most drivers have changed how they drive: winter tires are still in the garage, following distances are still set for dry roads, and the first slippery morning catches people out. The risk arrives before the habit changes.

How snow and ice change the drive

Snow and ice do not just make roads slippery. They slow everything down, cut visibility and take road space away.

  • Average speeds on main roads fall 30% to 40% on snowy or slushy pavement.
  • Freeway speeds fall 3% to 13% in light snow and 5% to 40% in heavy snow.
  • Heavy snow and sleet cut visibility, and snow piling up on lanes and roads reduces capacity and adds delay.

Stopping takes far longer too. The Highway Code says stopping distances can be ten times greater in icy and snowy weather than on a dry road, because the thinking distance stays the same while the braking distance grows. See our stopping distance calculator for how the numbers work at each speed.

The danger is the combination: a driver travelling at near-normal speed, on a road with far less grip, with less room to stop and less time to react.

What winter costs

The bill for keeping roads passable is large, and it comes every year whether the winter is bad or mild.

  • Winter road maintenance accounts for roughly 20% of state transport department maintenance budgets.
  • State and local agencies spend more than $2.3 billion a year on snow and ice control operations.
  • Agencies also spend millions of dollars every year repairing infrastructure damage caused by snow and ice.

That spending is the reason most winter journeys are uneventful. Plows, salt and grit keep the network moving, but they cannot remove the risk entirely.

What to do before the first snow

The figures above are averages, and no driver can change them. What a driver can change is how ready the car is and how much room is left for error.

  • Check tires, lights and wipers before the cold arrives, and keep the windscreen washer topped up.
  • Clear all snow and ice from the car, including the roof, before setting off.
  • Slow down on snowy or icy roads and leave a much bigger gap than on a dry road.
  • If snow is forecast, ask whether the trip is needed at all, and whether it can wait.
  • Keep a phone charged and warm clothing in the car in case a journey takes far longer than planned.

None of this is new advice. The FHWA figures are the reason it is worth doing: over a thousand deaths a year happen on surfaces that look safe until a car tries to stop on them.

For the wider picture of risk after dark, which overlaps with winter evenings, see how deadly driving at night is in the US. For how speed adds to the risk in all conditions, see how many people die in speeding crashes each year. And for what is happening on the roads right now, see today's accident reports.

How these numbers were counted

All figures in this article come from the Federal Highway Administration's Road Weather Management page on snow and ice, part of the US Department of Transportation: FHWA Road Weather: Snow and Ice.

The FHWA figures are annual averages, and the page gives no single year window for them, so they should not be read as one year's count. The two headline groups overlap: crashes during snowfall or sleet mostly also happen on snowy, slushy or icy pavement, so the two death tolls must not be added together. The speed figures are average reductions measured by the FHWA. The maintenance figures are the FHWA's estimates of what state and local agencies spend. The latest year of data can be revised as reports are finalised.

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