If it feels like Oklahoma’s roads have been more dangerous lately, you’re not imagining things. A new report from a national transportation research group shows traffic fatalities in the state have climbed in recent years, even as numbers have eased slightly in other parts of the country.
The news comes after one of the deadliest weekends the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP) has seen in nearly two decades. Over a single weekend, OHP responded to seven crashes that claimed ten lives. On top of that, three people drowned in waters patrolled by the agency.
Lt. Mark Southall, OHP’s public information officer, said he’s never seen anything like it in his 20 years on the job. The spike in calls prompted the agency to issue a public warning, urging drivers to slow down, put away their phones, and follow the law. The root causes of these car accidents were speeding, distracted driving, and other basic safety laws being ignored.
What pattern does this tragedy reflect?
Trip, a national nonprofit focused on transportation research, recently released its “Addressing America’s Traffic Safety Crisis” report. The data shows that traffic fatalities surged nationwide during the pandemic in 2021, even though fewer people were on the roads. Oklahoma was no exception. In 2024, the state ranked 13th for the highest traffic fatality rate and 14th for rural road fatalities.
The report also noted that driver behavior shifted during the pandemic years:
More people were speeding
Drivers often speed to cut minutes off their commutes, but it’s putting lives at risk. In 2023, roughly 11,775 people lost their lives in crashes where speeding was a factor, which made up 29% of all traffic fatalities. That’s nearly one death every 5 minutes, and the numbers are staggering.
Young drivers are particularly at risk. Among fatal crashes involving drivers aged 15–20, 37% of male drivers were speeding—an alarmingly high figure. Meanwhile, 51% of speeding passenger-vehicle drivers in fatal crashes weren’t wearing seat belts, compared to only 23% of non-speeding drivers.
Speeding also amplifies other risky behaviors, and it often goes hand-in-hand with impairment or distractions. That extra speed might shave seconds off your drive, but it's increasingly costing lives.
Fewer wore seatbelts or helmets
We all know that buckling up is a no-brainer, but too many people still skip this important step. In 2024, the national seatbelt use rate was approximately 91.2%, a rate that is encouraging. However, this still leaves nearly 1 in 10 people unbuckled. The results are deadly, as almost half of passenger-vehicle occupants killed in 2023 were not wearing seat belts.
Notably, at night, nearly 56% of those killed were unrestrained, and in rural areas, 50% of fatalities involved unbelted victims, compared to 48% in urban areas. Young adults (18–34) bear a particularly heavy burden, with 60% of those killed unrestrained.
Impaired driving due to drugs or alcohol has increased
Impaired driving remains one of the toughest safety challenges on U.S. roads. In 2023 alone, alcohol-impaired driving claimed 12,429 lives. That’s roughly one death every 42 minutes. Over the past decade (2014–2023), the average annual death toll from drunk driving has hovered around 11,000, so we're unfortunately not seeing much downward progress.
Alarmingly, about 30% of all traffic crash fatalities involve drunk drivers. Among motorcycle-related fatalities, 26% involved alcohol impairment, which is the highest for any vehicle type. Plus, children aren’t immune: in 2023, a shocking 25% of children (age 14 and under) killed in crashes were in drunk-driving incidents, and in over half of those cases, the child was riding with the impaired driver.
How are these issues being addressed?
While national numbers have dipped from their pandemic peak, they’re still much higher than they were a decade ago. Oklahoma’s rural roads are nearly twice as deadly as other roadways. Carolyn Kelly, Trip’s communications and research director, said part of the problem is how these roads are built, combined with the same risky behaviors seen on highways. Human error remains the leading cause of crashes, but road conditions themselves can contribute to up to a third of them.
In rural areas, OHP has noticed a troubling increase in collisions. The agency’s smaller footprint in these communities makes it harder to maintain a consistent presence, but that’s set to change. Starting in November, OHP plans to deploy additional troopers along interstates, expand into rural counties, and provide 24-hour coverage in select areas. The goal is to reduce crashes by increasing visibility and enforcement.
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