Dashboard: Arkansas Roadway Fatalities

In 2022, Arkansas had the fourth-highest motor-vehicle fatality rate in the country. From 2016 through 2022, there were 4,089 fatalities on Arkansas roadways, including motorists, motorcyclists, bicyclists, and pedestrians.

This dashboard makes roadway fatality data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System from 2016 through 2022 available in an interactive format that allows users to examine where roadway fatalities occur as well as trends over time, demographics of the people who died, and the role of risky behaviors such as failure to use protections.

Key findings from ACHI’s analysis of the data are displayed in our infographic, Data Watch: Arkansas Roadway Fatalities, 2016-2022. They include:

• Between 2016 and 2022, there were 4,089 roadway fatalities in Arkansas.
• In 2022, Arkansas had the fourth-highest roadway fatality rate of all the states and the District of Columbia (21.1 deaths per 100,000 people).
• Roadway fatalities increased in Arkansas during the COVID-19 pandemic, peaking in 2021 with 691 fatalities that year.
• Motorists accounted for 75% of roadway fatalities, followed by motorcyclists (13%), pedestrians (11%), and bicyclists (1%).
• Risky behaviors contributed to roadway fatalities: In 50% of motorist fatalities, no restraint was used by vehicle occupants; 20% of roadway fatalities involved speeding; and more than half (57%) of motorcycle occupants who died were not wearing a helmet.