Fatal Car Accidents in Mississippi by Year: What the Numbers Mean for Your Family

Mississippi is the deadliest state in the nation for drivers. That is not a ranking anyone wants to hold, but it is a fact supported by decades of data from the federal government and confirmed year after year. I am Mike Holleman, a Gulfport attorney who has spent more than four decades representing families throughout South Mississippi in wrongful death and serious injury cases. I put together this page because I believe the families of people killed in Mississippi car accidents deserve to understand the scale of this problem and to know that they have legal rights worth protecting.

The numbers below are drawn from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, known as FARS, and from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, which compiles NHTSA data annually. These are the most authoritative sources for traffic fatality information in the United States.

How Many Fatal Car Accidents Occured in Mississippi Each Year?

The following table compiles confirmed Mississippi traffic fatality totals as reported by the NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

[1] The figure shown for 2019 is an approximation derived from TRIP and NHTSA reporting showing that Mississippi traffic fatalities increased by more than eight percent from 2019 to 2022, when the confirmed total was 697. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s NHTSA annual report lists 664 confirmed

What These Fatal Car Accident Numbers Mean

In 2012, Mississippi recorded 582 traffic deaths, the lowest figure in the state’s recorded history at that time. If you look at what happened next, the trend moved sharply in the wrong direction. By 2015, that number had risen to 769, a surge of more than 32 percent in just three years. The state saw a partial reduction in the years that followed, reaching 664 in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic era brought a disturbing spike. In 2020 and 2021, despite reduced vehicle miles traveled nationally, traffic deaths in Mississippi rose sharply, reaching 752 and then 772. The 2021 total remains one of the highest Mississippi has recorded in years.

In 2023, the most recent year for which full NHTSA data is available, Mississippi recorded 732 traffic deaths. That figure corresponds to a fatality rate of 24.9 deaths per 100,000 residents and 1.79 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Both of those rates ranked first in the nation. The national average fatality rate in 2023 was 12.2 deaths per 100,000 people. Mississippi’s rate was more than double the national figure. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, no other state came close to Mississippi’s fatality rate on either measure in 2023.

A 2025 TRIP report confirmed that Mississippi maintained the highest traffic fatality rate in the nation in 2024 as well. TRIP estimated that fatal and serious crashes in Mississippi in 2024 caused a total of $14.1 billion in societal harm, which includes both economic costs and the incalculable value of lost lives.

Why Are Mississippi Roads So Deadly?

These numbers do not arise from chance. There are specific, well-documented reasons why Mississippi consistently leads the nation in traffic deaths, and understanding those reasons matters if you are trying to evaluate whether a family member’s death on a Mississippi road was preventable.

fatalities for 2018. Exact year-by-year figures for all years are available through the NHTSA FARS database at cdan.dot.gov.

Low Seat Belt Usage

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that seat belt use in Mississippi in 2023 was 82.2 percent. The national average that year was 91.9 percent.[1] That nearly ten-point gap is one of the most significant contributors to Mississippi’s death toll. Mississippi’s own Department of Transportation has found that approximately one out of every two people killed in a Mississippi car accident was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. That does not eliminate the liability of a negligent driver who caused the wreck, but it is a factor that shapes outcomes.

Speeding

Speeding was a contributing factor in 122 car accident fatalities in Mississippi in 2021, according to the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Nationally, speeding contributes to roughly 29 percent of all traffic deaths. Mississippi’s rural highways, with their long straight stretches and higher posted speed limits, create conditions where speeding crashes are particularly lethal. When a collision happens at highway speed, the forces involved are exponentially more destructive than in lower-speed impacts, and survival rates drop sharply.

Drunk and Impaired Driving

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety recorded 155 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in Mississippi in 2021. Alcohol was a contributing factor in roughly 20 percent of all motor vehicle deaths in the state that year. Impaired driving is one of the most preventable causes of fatal car accidents, which is precisely what makes alcohol-related deaths on Mississippi roads so difficult for families to accept.

Rural Road Conditions and Emergency Response Times

More than half of Mississippi’s traffic fatalities occur on rural roadways. Narrow two-lane roads, limited lighting, reduced visibility at intersections, and the absence of median barriers all contribute to the severity of crashes on rural routes. When crashes occur on rural roads far from hospitals and trauma centers, emergency response times are longer. That delay reduces survival chances in crashes that might be survivable with immediate medical intervention in an urban setting.

Distracted Driving

Mississippi’s Department of Transportation has reported that 21 percent of teen drivers involved in fatal crashes were distracted by cell phones. Distracted driving is not limited to

[1] Traffic Safety Facts, NHTSA (last visited May 5, 2026), https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/Publication/813543.

younger drivers, but the statistics make clear that inattention behind the wheel is a persistent and deadly problem throughout the state.

If someone you love was killed in a car accident in Mississippi and you believe another driver’s negligence played a role, call my office today at (228) 868-0064. I offer a free consultation, and I will give you a direct, honest assessment of your family’s legal options.

What a Wrongful Death Claim Means in Mississippi

When a person is killed in a car accident caused by someone else’s negligence, Mississippi law gives surviving family members the right to file a wrongful death claim. This is a civil legal action, separate from any criminal charges the at-fault driver may face. It is designed to compensate the family for the losses they have suffered and will continue to suffer because of someone else’s reckless or negligent behavior.

Under Mississippi Code Section 11-7-13, the right to bring a wrongful death claim belongs to specified surviving family members, including the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased. The claim is brought on behalf of all surviving family members who were harmed by the death. Damages that may be recoverable include medical expenses incurred before death, funeral and burial costs, lost income and financial support that the deceased would have provided, loss of companionship and consortium, pain and suffering of the deceased prior to death, and the grief and emotional suffering of surviving family members.

I want to be candid about one thing. Mississippi law imposes a three-year statute of limitations on wrongful death claims arising from personal injuries, including fatal car accidents. That means the surviving family generally has three years from the date of death to file a claim in court.[1] If that deadline passes without a lawsuit being filed, the family typically loses the right to recover anything, no matter how strong the underlying case might be. That is why I encourage families not to wait. Evidence fades, witnesses become harder to locate, and insurance companies are not working in your favor while the clock runs.

How Do Mississippi’s Fatal Car Accident Statistics Affect A Case?

The statistics on this page are not just numbers. They are context for why negligent driving in Mississippi is so dangerous and why holding negligent drivers and their insurers accountable matters. When I represent a family in a wrongful death case arising from a car accident, I work to establish clearly what caused the crash, who was at fault, and what the full scope of the family’s losses looks like.

Mississippi follows a pure comparative negligence standard under Miss. Code Section 11-7-15. That means a jury can assign percentages of fault to each party involved in a crash. Even

[1] There are some limited exceptions that can toll the statute of limitations.

if the deceased person bore some portion of fault, the family can still recover damages reduced by that percentage. Insurance companies know this, and they use it aggressively to minimize settlements. Having a fatal car accident attorney who understands Mississippi law, who has tried wrongful death cases, and who will not be pressured into an inadequate settlement makes a real difference in what a family ultimately recovers.

I grew up watching my father, Boyce Holleman, who served as District Attorney for South Mississippi from 1953 to 1972 and spent the rest of his career as one of the most respected trial attorneys in the state, stand in courtrooms and fight for the people whose lives had been shattered by someone else’s actions. He taught me that a lawyer who cannot truly understand what a family has lost cannot effectively convey that loss to a jury. I have carried that lesson into every wrongful death case I have handled. The loss of a parent, a spouse, a child, or a sibling on a Mississippi road is not something that can be reduced to a settlement number without a fight.

Harrison County and the Gulf Coast: Our Roads, Our Risks

As a Gulfport attorney, I represent families throughout Harrison County and across South Mississippi, including Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Long Beach, Pass Christian, Bay St. Louis, and Pascagoula. Interstate 10, U.S. Highway 90, U.S. Highway 49, and the network of state and county roads running through South Mississippi see a significant volume of traffic every day, including heavy commercial truck traffic, tourist traffic, and the daily commuting of hundreds of thousands of Gulf Coast residents.

Harrison County fatal crash statistics track closely with the statewide trends. Rural stretches of U.S. 49 heading north out of Gulfport, the elevated sections of I-10 crossing the marshlands, and the commercial corridors along Highway 90 near the casino strip all present well-documented crash risks. When a fatal accident happens on any of these routes, understanding the full picture, including road conditions, driver history, vehicle defects, and insurance coverage, is essential to building a successful wrongful death case.

Who Can Bring a Fatal Car Accident Claim in Mississippi?

Under Mississippi law, the surviving spouse, children, and parents of a person killed in a fatal car accident all have standing to bring a wrongful death claim. In some cases, siblings or other family members may also have standing depending on the circumstances. The claim is filed on behalf of all beneficiaries as a group, and any recovery is distributed among them. If the deceased person left a will, that document does not control how wrongful death proceeds are distributed. Mississippi law has its own rules for that distribution, which I can walk you through in a consultation.

What Evidence Matters in a Fatal Car Accident Case in Mississippi?

Evidence is the foundation of any successful wrongful death case arising from a car accident. The most important categories of evidence include the police crash report and any supplemental investigation, photographs and video from the scene, black box data from the vehicles involved, cell phone records showing whether the at-fault driver was distracted, blood alcohol and drug test results, eyewitness statements, and any dashcam or surveillance footage that captured the crash or the moments leading up to it. In cases involving large commercial trucks, there are additional federal trucking regulations and electronic logging device records that can be critical.

I begin gathering evidence as early as possible in every case I take. Evidence that is preserved in the hours and days after a crash is far more reliable than evidence that has been lost, degraded, or adjusted weeks later. If you believe you have a case, please do not delay in reaching out.

Call Today To Schedule A Free Consultation With An Experienced Gulf Coast Fatal Car Crash Attorney.

Mississippi’s families deserve a fatal car accident attorney who will fight for them with the same determination and compassion that this firm has brought to South Mississippi for decades.

If your family has lost someone in a car accident, call Holleman Law Firm, PLLC in Gulfport at (228) 868-0064 to schedule a free consultation. I will listen to your story, evaluate your case, and tell you honestly what your options are.

Sources

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS): cdan.dot.gov

Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), Fatality Facts 2023: State by State: iihs.org

Mississippi Department of Public Safety / Mississippi Office of Highway Safety, Annual Reports, filed with NHTSA: nhtsa.gov

TRIP, Addressing America’s Traffic Safety Crisis: Mississippi News Release, July 23, 2025: tripnet.org

Mississippi Office of Highway Safety, FY2019 Highway Safety Plan Annual Report, filed with NHTSA: nhtsa.gov

Haug, Farrar, Franco and Ruiz, PLLC, Mississippi Car Accident Statistics (citing NHTSA and TRIP): haugfarrar.com

Mississippi Today, Why Mississippi Is the Deadliest Place to Drive a Car, 2018: mississippitoday.org

The information on this page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship. If you have lost a family member in a fatal car accident, please contact an attorney directly to discuss the specific facts of your situation.