New Study Shows OR, WA Among Biggest Jumps in Fatal Crashes

A new study shows Oregon leads the US when it comes to the recent increase in fatal vehicle crashes, and WA comes in 6th.

  Study shows a big jump for both

The study was commissioned by Bader Scott, a leading injury law firm, and utilized official data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

This trend is not a one-year or even two-year jump, the Federal data compared two five-year periods involving fatal crashes with vehicles.

According to the study and Journo Research:

"The average number of fatalities for the five-year periods of 2013 - 2017 and 2018 - 2022 was calculated. Finally, the percentage change of these averages was calculated and then ranked to determine which states have seen the largest increase."

Oregon's fatal totals went from just over 410 in the first period, to 540 in the second, a 31.61 percent increase.  WA state's total went from just over 509 to 610, a 19.86 percent increase.

Other states in the top five included: (by percentage of increase)

• 2	Arizona	893.8	1,105	23.63%
  3	New Mexico	356	432.4	21.46%
  4	Tennessee	996.2	1,206.8	21.14%
  5	Georgia	1,374.4	1,649.8	20.04%

Idaho was 36th with a modest 3.95 percent increase, CA ranked 11th.  The lowest states, or ones with the biggest reductions in vehicle fatalities according to the study were:

• 46	Iowa	338.2	338.4	0.06%
  47	Pennsylvania	1186	1157.4	-2.41%
  48	New York	1085.2	1055	-2.78%
  49	West Virginia	289	273	-5.54%
  50	North Dakota	128.6	100.8	-21.62%

The NHTSA reports can be viewed by clicking here.  The data did not speculate as to why certain states saw sharp increases or declines.