South Dakota Tops Nation for Thanksgiving Drunk Driving Deaths

A little too much over-imbibing at Thanksgiving has become a problem for South Dakota.

A new study by car insurance saving app Jerry, shows that drivers in the Mount Rushmore State are most at risk of drunk driving fatalities during the annual holiday weekend.

A study of fatal crashes over the past decade found that more than half (57%) of all traffic deaths in South Dakota over the Thanksgiving holiday involved drinking.

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That's double the national average and the highest per capita in America.

STATES WITH THE HIGHEST RATE OF THANKSGIVING DRINKING-RELATED CRASHES PER CAPITA

• South Dakota: 0.79
• North Dakota: 0.55
• South Carolina: 0.55
• Louisiana: 0.54
• Vermont: 0.40
• Mississippi: 0.39
• Alaska: 0.38
• Texas: 0.37
• Wyoming: 0.36
• Nebraska: 0.35

Overall, Mississippi suffers far more fatalities during the Thanksgiving holiday than any other state, while Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas rank well ahead of all other cities in total traffic fatalities over Thanksgiving.

The report also found that the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the deadliest day to be on the road during the holiday weekend. The most dangerous time is between 6:00 PM and 7:00 PM on Thanksgiving, followed by 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Wednesday and 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM Saturday.

Thanksgiving is the third-deadliest driving holiday of the year, behind the Fourth of July and Labor Day.