These Are The Deadliest States For Winter Driving

The weather outside is frightful, and the driving can be far from delightful. Winter brings the possibility of being out on the road during a snowstorm or in the immediate aftermath. Even capable drivers in a properly prepared vehicle could be collected by a hapless novice caught by the sleet and snow.

A crash doesn't just risk vehicle damage, but personal harm or even death. MoneyGeek, a personal finance website, has conducted research using publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to determine the most dangerous U.S. states for winter driving. The site weighed several factors including total winter driving fatalities between 2019 and 2021, the three most recent years with available data, as well as the rate of deaths per billion vehicle miles traveled.

Our list is starting off with Indiana, the home of the Indianapolis 500. The Hoosier State had 49 total winter driving fatalities, with a rate of 0.21 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

Some Hoosiers tempt fate in icy conditions. An Indianapolis woman was seen driving down the frozen-over Indiana Central Canal in December 2022. Her Chevy Malibu fell through the ice, and she was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

Colorado is next on the list with 39 total winter driving fatalities, but a rate of 0.25 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

Drivers in Denver didn't take the first snowfall of the winter well in November 2022. Five inches of snow was enough to provoke a 100-vehicle pileup with traffic blocked in both directions.

Minnesota opens the top ten with 52 total winter driving fatalities and a rate of 0.31 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

It seems odd, considering how adept Minnesotans tend to be with winter road maintenance. Citizens even built an ice road in the Northwest Angle during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Neighboring South Dakota had 17 total winter driving fatalities but is marked ahead because of its high 0.57 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

When a massive winter storm moved across the state in December 2022, 70 tractor-trailers were stranded on Interstate 90 in Vivian, South Dakota.

On Minnesota's opposite border, Wisconsin had 57 total winter driving fatalities and a rate of 0.30 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

A driver in Milwaukee was lucky to avoid joining that total in February 2021 after taking a 70-foot plunge off the "Zoo" interchange down onto Interstate 94.

Wyoming had an astronomically high rate of one death per billion vehicular miles traveled, one of just two states with a rate of one or higher. There were 31 total winter driving fatalities in the state.

Wyoming's roads can be quite chaotic during the winter. A state trooper had to jump out of the way of an out-of-control semi as it careened off a snow-covered interstate highway in February last year.

Illinois had 69 total winter driving fatalities. Not nice! The Prairie State had 0.23 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

Chicago, Illinois' largest city, has a unique method of preparing its streets for a winter storm. Maintenance crews simply dump road salt onto vehicles sitting in parking spots not even owned by the city.

Montana opens the top five with 28 total winter driving fatalities and 0.73 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

The snow in Big Sky Country is something that I'm not sure that most of the cars registered in Montana to dodge taxes could ever be prepared for.

Pennsylvania had 83 total winter driving fatalities and 0.28 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

Snow squalls in the Keystone State led to a massive pileup that collected over 50 vehicles and killed at least five people on Interstate 81 in March 2022.

Ohio just barely found its way onto the icy podium. The Buckeye State had 87 total winter driving fatalities and a rate of 0.26 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

I'm surprised it isn't higher ranked given the state's quality of snow clearance. In January 2022, a rogue snowplow damaged at least 40 vehicles and injured at least a dozen people as it shot a slush jet into the opposing lanes on the Ohio Turnpike.

The silver medal goes to Alaska. The largest, northernmost and least densely populated state in the Union had 28 total winter driving fatalities, but 1.65 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

Dash cam footage recorded in Fairbanks, Alaska from February 2022 shows just how treacherous driving in the state can be. The driver nearly plowed straight into a crash because of the lack of visibility.

Michigan is statistically the worst state for winter driving, one of few times the state wouldn't want to beat Ohio. The Wolverine State had 117 total winter driving fatalities and a rate of 0.41 deaths per billion vehicular miles traveled.

There was a staggering 150-vehicle pileup on I-96 near Portland, Michigan in March last year. Surprisingly, no one was killed. The highway-blocking incident damaged 84 cars and sent 66 other vehicles off the road.