There's always a degree of danger associated with driving. The perfect driver can do everything by the book and still get into an accident due to another inattentive driver, bad weather conditions or sheer bad luck. All drivers know that this is always a possibility. What drivers might not know, however, is that the time of year is a big factor in the dangers on the road. Summer and fall months are when drivers often hit the road in pursuit of outdoor activities; the months of May through October have the highest number of vehicle miles traveled during the year. But more cars on the road mean more fatalities. Additionally, some of the most raveled holidays in the United States are in the summer and fall months. Time off from work, people driving for the holidays, and the presence of alcohol during this time can result in an unforgettable holiday weekend for all the wrong reasons.

Methodology

To determine which months are most dangerous for drivers, QuoteWizard auto insurance analysts looked at NHTSA FARS fatal crashes and crash rates by month data from 2007-2017. Rankings are based on months with the highest average fatal crash rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled during the study period, and rankings are arranged from the least dangerous to most dangerous month to drive based on average fatal crash rate from 2007-2017. With this in mind, explore our slideshow to see the most dangerous months to drive during the last 10 years. Related:

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Denny Jacob

Denny Jacob is an associate editor for NU PropertyCasualty360. Contact him at [email protected].

Personal Lines
Auto
Public Sector Risk