- In South Dakota, 5:00pm – 5:59pm is the most dangerous time of day to drive at, based on the number of fatal crashes
New research has revealed the most dangerous times to drive in each state, with 5:00pm-5:59pm being the most dangerous in 12 states.
The study by personal injury lawyers Scott Vicknair studied the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to see which times of the day saw the most fatal crashes in each state between 2017 and 2022.
In South Dakota, the study found that between 5:00pm – 5:59pm is the most dangerous time to drive in the state. This is because 47 of the 693 fatal crashes recorded in the state between 2017 and 2022 occurred at the time, which is a percentage of 6.78%, higher than any other time in the day.
6:00pm – 6:59pm saw the most fatalities overall when looking at the entire nation but only holds a majority in ten states, with 12,813, or 5.91% of the 216,907 fatal crashes nationally occurring.
The table below shows the most commonly occurring times to be most dangerous across the 50 states:
| Time | States where Time is Most Dangerous |
| 5:00pm – 5:59pm | 12 |
| 6:00pm – 6:59pm | 10 |
| 8:00pm – 8:59pm | 7 |
| 9:00pm – 9:59pm | 7 |
| 4:00pm – 4:59pm | 5 |
| 3:00pm – 3:59pm | 5 |
| 2:00pm – 2:59pm | 3 |
| 7:00pm – 7:59pm | 2 |