West Virginia Leads the Nation in Highway Fatalities Per Capita

Picture of girls playing in the road in West Virginia

The number of car crash fatalities in West Virginia is 14.7 per 100,000 people, which is not only higher than the national average (11.6 per 100,000) but it is also higher than rates in most of West Virginia’s surrounding states (Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia). Kentucky is the only surrounding state that also has rates higher than the national average, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The state’s mountains and winding rural roads are also partly to blame for the high rate of fatal car accidents.

“One reason our roads are more challenging is because of the topography of the state of West Virginia,” says David Martinelli, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at West Virginia University. “Rural roads are in many ways more dangerous because they tend to be narrower, and they tend to not get high priority for maintenance.”

With its mountainous terrain and higher elevations, West Virginia often experiences severe winter weather conditions. Yet while surrounding states have shifted more ownership of local roads to municipalities and counties, West Virginia’s Division of Highways owns and has to maintain roughly 95 percent of the state’s roads. As a result, state workers have a tough time keeping already treacherous roads plowed and clear during snowstorms.