Maryland Averaged 1.5 Traffic Deaths a Day From 2020 to 2025, a 2026 TRIP Report Found
From 2020 to 2025, 3,383 people died in Maryland traffic crashes.
A transportation research group added up that toll, along with what the crashes cost.
Here’s what the 2026 TRIP report found about Maryland’s roads, and what it means for the drivers who share them.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Maryland traffic laws, fines and requirements are subject to change, so confirm the current rules with the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration.
Who Ran the Study and How
TRIP published its 2026 report on September 23, 2026.
The report is titled “Addressing America’s Traffic Safety Crisis,” and it tracks traffic deaths from 2015 to 2025, nationwide and state by state.
The number of people killed in traffic crashes is listed for each state, along with a rate that compares those deaths with how far drivers traveled.
Nationwide, there were 241,637 traffic deaths from 2020 to 2025.
TRIP is a private nonprofit.
It isn’t a government agency.
If you’re wondering who backs the research, TRIP says its sponsors include insurance companies, equipment manufacturers, businesses in highway and transit engineering and construction, and labor unions.
You can read the full report and its appendix on TRIP’s site.
Now for the numbers.
Daily Toll
In TRIP’s count, 3,383 people died in Maryland traffic crashes from 2020 to 2025.
That averages 1.5 deaths a day.
That’s nearly eleven a week.
If you drive in Maryland, that’s the daily average on the roads you use.
The count covers crashes inside Maryland, so some of the people who died may have lived in another state.
Maryland’s state crash data list 573, 563, 566 and 621 deaths for 2020 through 2023, with 621 in 2023 the most.
TRIP lists 564 deaths in 2022; Maryland’s state data list 566.
Maryland’s yearly deaths were 513 in 2015 and 483 in 2025, a 6% drop.
How the 1.5 a Day Adds Up
Dividing 3,383 deaths by the 2,192 days from 2020 through 2025 gives 1.54, which matches the rounded 1.5 a day.
That division is our arithmetic; TRIP states only the 1.5 average.
The yearly counts for 2020 through 2025 were 573, 563, 564, 621, 579 and 483.
Death Rate Compared With the Nation
Maryland’s 2025 death rate was 0.84 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, TRIP reported.
The national rate that year was 1.10, so Maryland’s came in roughly a quarter lower.
If you’re comparing states, a rate is a fairer comparison because a busy state doesn’t look worse only for having more drivers.
The 0.84 and 1.10 are TRIP’s 2025 figures.
Lower is better.
Psst! How much do you know about Maryland road safety? Take our quiz and see if you can ace it.
Quiz
Maryland Road Rules IQ
Answer these questions on Maryland driving laws and road safety. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
A pedestrian struck by a driver going 40 mph is how many times more likely to die than one struck at 20 mph, according to Maryland’s Highway Safety Office?
The $24.7 Billion Price Tag
Fatal and serious traffic crashes in Maryland caused $24.7 billion in societal harm in 2025, TRIP estimates.
Of that, $6.1 billion is economic costs, and $18.6 billion is quality-of-life costs.
Economic costs include medical care, lost productivity, legal and court costs, emergency services and property damage.
They're the smaller share.
Quality-of-life costs put a value on lost years of life, lifelong injuries and physical pain.
If you picture only economic costs such as medical bills and repair costs, you're picturing about a quarter of the total.
Divide $24.7 billion by Maryland's 6.27 million residents, and you get about $3,900 for each person.
That division is our arithmetic, not a TRIP figure.
The estimate uses NHTSA's crash cost method, citing a 2023 NHTSA report for the cost categories.
Work Zones, Pedestrians and Motorcycles
TRIP's release reports that 50 people died in Maryland highway work zone crashes from 2020 to 2024.
That's ten a year.
Its work zone advice includes safety training, high-visibility clothing, traffic control devices and ways to curb aggressive driving.
On the state side, Maryland's Highway Safety Office data show crashes involving a pedestrian killed 131 people in 2020 and 159 in 2023.
If you walk or bike, the national numbers hit close to home, since pedestrians and bicyclists made up 21% of all U.S. traffic deaths in 2025.
Motorcyclists made up 16% of U.S. traffic deaths that year, though motorcycles account for just 0.7% of the miles driven.
Recommended Fixes
TRIP's report lays out the Safe System approach behind the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Roadway Safety Strategy.
Its five parts are safer people, safer roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds and post-crash care.
Safer people covers education on speeding and impaired driving, plus stronger enforcement against speeding, impaired, aggressive and distracted driving.
Speed matters.
Safer speeds can mean roundabouts and curb extensions that encourage drivers to slow down.
If you've driven through a roundabout, you've used one of those tools.
Post-crash care means faster access to emergency medical care and trauma centers for people who are seriously hurt.
TRIP also says more spending on roadway safety is likely to pay off in fewer fatal and serious crashes.
A Maryland law signed on April 9, 2024, lets more work zones use speed cameras.
TRIP's release doesn't name that law, which is a state step, not a TRIP recommendation.
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