Montana Is 5th Deadliest State for July 4th Driving

Somewhere on a two-lane highway outside Miles City tonight, a pickup truck will pass a rented sedan doing seventy miles an hour under a sky that still hasn't gone dark.

That stretch of blacktop, wide open and beautiful, is exactly the kind of road where new federal crash data says Montana drivers are most at risk this holiday weekend.

A nationwide study pulled five years of federal crash records and found that Montana lands in the top five deadliest states in the country for Fourth of July driving. Only North Dakota, Delaware, Nevada, and New Mexico rank worse.

July 4th Crash Data: Where Montana Ranks

Researchers at MoneyGeek studied crash data from 2020 through 2024, analyzing the most recent finalized figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

They measured deaths per 100 million miles driven during the holiday window, which stretches from the evening before the Fourth through the morning after the holiday ends.

Here is what the data revealed about Montana:

Total fatalities: 17 holiday deaths over the five-year study window.
Fatality rate: 0.227 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
National rank: 5th most dangerous in the country.

This places Montana just behind New Mexico and ahead of states like Alabama and South Carolina, which have far higher populations and traffic volumes.

Why Rural Highway Infrastructure Increases the Risk

The states topping this list share a distinct geographic pattern. They are wide open and lightly populated, with drivers covering long distances at high speeds on rural roads.

Montana fits that description perfectly. A crash on Highway 191 outside Bozeman or along the Hi-Line near Havre doesn't have the luxury of a trauma center ten minutes away.

Distance itself becomes part of the danger, turning what might be a survivable wreck in a denser state into something far more serious here.

Montana's July 4th Drunk Driving Statistics

Nationally, the Independence Day holiday carries the second-highest rate of drunk driving deaths of any major holiday, trailing only New Year's Eve.

Among all American drivers killed during the five-year study period, 38% were legally drunk, well above the 30% rate for an average day on the road.

Montana's numbers run even higher:

39% of drivers killed in Montana crashes during the holiday window were legally over the limit.

While long, empty highways contribute heavily to the state's ranking, the decisions people make around a cooler of beer or a bonfire matter just as much.

The Deadliest Times to Drive After Dark

Across the country, holiday traffic fatalities cluster within a very narrow, predictable timeframe.

Nearly a quarter of all Fourth of July fatalities (23%) happen between 9 p.m. and midnight.

This is the stretch when community fireworks displays end, and everyone piles back into their vehicles at once. Many drivers are tired, some are impaired, and all are navigating roads that are much harder to see after sunset.

In Montana, where a summer sunset can stretch past 9 p.m. and darkness settles in slowly, that late window carries immense weight. The fireworks end, the parking lots empty out, and the most dangerous hour of the whole holiday begins.

How Montana Compares to Other States

To put Montana's numbers in perspective, the safest state in the country this holiday is Rhode Island, with a rate of just 0.039 deaths per 100 million miles driven. Montana's rate is nearly six times higher.

Meanwhile, massive population centers like California and Texas post far higher raw death counts (284 and 274, respectively), but their rate per mile driven actually lands them in the middle of the pack.

Montana's danger is not about traffic volume. It is about exposure, fewer people, more miles, and less room for error.

Safety Tips for Montana Drivers This Weekend

None of this is meant to keep anyone off the road or away from the fireworks this weekend. Montana's Fourth of July traditions, the small-town parades, the lake trips, and the backyard barbecues, are part of what makes this state incredible.

But the data is a clear nudge to build in a little more caution than usual:

Plan ahead: Line up a sober driver before the first drink gets poured.
Adjust your timing: Leave early enough that your drive home does not fall inside that dangerous 9 p.m. to midnight window.
Watch your surroundings: Give extra space to the other cars on the highway. On the Fourth of July, more drivers than usual are carrying someone who shouldn't be behind the wheel.