According to a researcher at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI), although road safety nationwide has improved in the 10 years, fatality rates continue to be generally higher in the Northern Plains and southern states than in the Northeast, Midwest, and West.

After Michael Sivak, research professor at the UMTRI, examined individual fatality rates per distance driven and per population in all 50 states and the District of Columbia in 2012 and 2005, he found that while road fatalities across the nation are down about 23 percent since 2005, fatality rates vary greatly by region.  

The District of Columbia (4.2), Massachusetts (6.2) and Minnesota (6.9) have the lowest fatality rates per 1 billion miles, while the highest rates are in West Virginia (17.6), South Carolina (17.6) and Montana (17.3). The lowest fatality rates per 100,000 people are also in the District of Columbia (2.4) and Massachusetts (5.3), as well as in New York (6.0). The highest rates are in North Dakota (24.3), Wyoming (21.3) and Montana (20.4).

The greatest reductions in fatalities per distance driven from 2005 to 2012 occurred in the District of Columbia (down 68 percent), Nevada (down 48 percent) and Idaho (down 39 percent), while the only states that registered increases were Vermont (up 13 percent), North Dakota (up 4 percent) and Maine (up 2 percent).

Likewise, the percentage decrease between 2005 and 2012 in the fatality rate per population was highest in the District of Columbia (down 73 percent), Nevada (down 47 percent) and Idaho (down 40 percent). North Dakota (up 26 percent) and Vermont (up 5 percent) were the only states that saw increases.