Fatal crash profile · State

Traffic deaths in South Dakota

State in United States

Deaths, 2024
146
Fatal crashes
134
Population
927.1K

In 2024, 146 people died in 134 fatal crashes in South Dakota. That was 4.3% more than in 2023 (140) and the most since 2021. The death rate was 15.7 per 100,000 residents, compared with 11.5 in the United States. South Dakota had the 42nd most traffic deaths of the 51 states and DC and the 11th-highest death rate. Pedestrians accounted for 6% of deaths, and 22% of fatal crashes were speeding-related.

Deaths

Traffic deaths

15.7

deaths per 100,000 residents in 2024

  • About 1.4 times the rate in the United States: 11.5

+4%

change in deaths from 2023 to 2024

140 deaths in 2023, 146 in 2024

  • The United States: -4%
Traffic deaths by year, 1975–2024
Category Deaths Fatal crashes
1975 195 160
1976 219 185
1977 208 179
1978 191 165
1979 211 169
1980 228 188
1981 177 162
1982 148 129
1983 175 147
1984 143 132
1985 130 109
1986 134 118
1987 134 107
1988 147 127
1989 152 134
1990 153 139
1991 143 130
1992 161 141
1993 140 118
1994 154 141
1995 158 140
1996 175 142
1997 148 128
1998 165 149
1999 150 136
2000 173 150
2001 171 154
2002 180 159
2003 203 173
2004 197 166
2005 186 158
2006 191 172
2007 146 130
2008 121 109
2009 131 112
2010 140 124
2011 111 101
2012 133 118
2013 135 121
2014 136 125
2015 134 116
2016 116 103
2017 129 111
2018 130 110
2019 102 88
2020 141 132
2021 148 131
2022 137 121
2023 140 128
2024 146 134

People who died within 30 days of a crash. A fatal crash can kill more than one person.

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Deaths per 100,000 residents, 2000–2024
Category Deaths per 100,000
2000 22.9
2001 22.6
2002 23.7
2003 26.6
2004 25.6
2005 24.0
2006 24.4
2007 18.4
2008 15.1
2009 16.2
2010 17.2
2011 13.5
2012 16.0
2013 16.0
2014 16.0
2015 15.7
2016 13.4
2017 14.8
2018 14.8
2019 11.5
2020 15.9
2021 16.5
2022 15.1
2023 15.3
2024 15.8

Uses Census population estimates, available from 2000.

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Profile by year: 2024 · 2023 · 2022 · 2021 · 2020

Road users

Who died

6%

of deaths were pedestrians

  • About one-third of the share in the United States: 18%
Who died in 2024
Category Deaths
Vehicle occupants and others 100
Pedestrians 9
Motorcyclists 33
Cyclists 4
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Deaths by type, 2024
Type Deaths Share in South Dakota Share in the US
Pedestrians 9 6% 18%
Motorcyclists 33 23% 16%
Cyclists 4 3% 3%
Alcohol-impaired driving crashes 43 29% 30%
Speeding-related crashes 33 23% 29%

Alcohol-impaired and speeding-related count everyone killed in those crashes, so a death can appear in more than one row.

Crash factors

Speeding, alcohol, night and weekend crashes

22%

of fatal crashes were speeding-related

  • About 80 percent of the share in the United States: 28%

37%

of fatal crashes involved a drinking driver

  • About 1.5 times the share in the United States: 25%
Crash factors in 2024
Category South Dakota United States
Speeding-related 36.6% 24.8%
Alcohol-involved 22.4% 28.1%
At night 35.8% 53.6%
At weekends 30.6% 32.6%

Share of fatal crashes. Alcohol-involved means a police-reported drinking driver.

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Timing

When crashes happen

36%

of fatal crashes happened at night

  • About two-thirds of the share in the United States: 54%

31%

of fatal crashes happened at weekends

  • About the same as the share in the United States: 33%
Fatal crashes by hour of day
Category Fatal crashes
12am 21
1am 18
2am 13
3am 15
4am 10
5am 11
6am 21
7am 26
8am 20
9am 17
10am 42
11am 29
12pm 34
1pm 39
2pm 37
3pm 30
4pm 32
5pm 38
6pm 40
7pm 32
8pm 39
9pm 30
10pm 27
11pm 21

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by day of week
Category Fatal crashes
Sun 83
Mon 70
Tue 76
Wed 97
Thu 79
Fri 117
Sat 124

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Fatal crashes by month
Category Fatal crashes
Jan 24
Feb 44
Mar 37
Apr 50
May 45
Jun 52
Jul 74
Aug 98
Sep 65
Oct 63
Nov 49
Dec 45

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Conditions

Weather and light

Weather at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Clear 480
Cloudy 86
Rain 26
Snow 20
Fog, Smog, Smoke 14
Blowing Snow 8

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Light conditions at the time of the crash
Category Fatal crashes
Daylight 367
Dark - Not Lighted 191
Dark - Lighted 46
Dusk 31
Dawn 9
Dark - Unknown Lighting 1

All crashes 2020–2024. Crashes where conditions were not reported are left out.

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Roads and vehicles

Where and what, 2020–2024

Roads with the most fatal crashes

  1. I-90 E32
  2. US-1829
  3. I-90 W29
  4. SR-4414
  5. SR-3414
  6. I-29 N14
  7. I-29 S13
  8. SR-3711
  9. US-21211
  10. SR-1911

Road names as recorded in police reports.

Vehicles involved, by type
Category Vehicles
Cars 229
Pickup trucks 192
SUVs 183
Motorcycles 135
Medium and heavy trucks 129
Other vehicles 42
Vans 36
Buses 2

All crashes 2020–2024.

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Vehicles most often involved

  1. Chevrolet Silverado41
  2. Ford F-15035
  3. GMC Sierra24
  4. Dodge Ram24
  5. Chevrolet Impala20
  6. Peterbilt 37917
  7. Ford F-35017
  8. Ford F-25014
  9. Chevrolet Malibu14
  10. Toyota Camry12

Reflects how common a vehicle is as well as crash involvement; not a safety rating.

Crashes

Fatal crashes

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Fatal crashes in 2024. Crashes without reported coordinates are not shown.

Filter crashes
Crash factors
Date Location Deaths
Dec 30, 2024 Dewey County 1
Dec 27, 2024 Fall River County 1
Dec 26, 2024 Aberdeen, Brown County 1
Dec 24, 2024 Oglala Lakota County 1
Dec 20, 2024 Ziebach County 1
Dec 14, 2024 Sioux Falls, Minnehaha County 1
Dec 14, 2024 Sioux Falls, Lincoln County 1
Dec 10, 2024 Meade County 1
Dec 10, 2024 Grant County 1
Dec 7, 2024 Buffalo County 2
Dec 7, 2024 Roberts County 1
Dec 4, 2024 Oglala Lakota County 1
Dec 4, 2024 Hutchinson County 1
Nov 28, 2024 Charles Mix County 1
Nov 27, 2024 Bennett County 1
Nov 26, 2024 McCook County 1
Nov 24, 2024 Jackson County 1
Nov 23, 2024 Rapid City, Pennington County 1
Nov 23, 2024 Hanson County 1
Nov 16, 2024 Lincoln County 2
Nov 14, 2024 Minnehaha County 1
Nov 12, 2024 Deuel County 1
Nov 9, 2024 Brown County 2
Nov 6, 2024 Pennington County 1
Nov 5, 2024 Bon Homme County 2

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Nearby and related

Counties in South Dakota

Cities

Cities with at least 10 fatal crashes across the loaded years are listed.

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Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2020–2024. A fatal crash is one in which at least one person died within 30 days. Population: US Census Bureau estimates.