KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- New York places 9 counties in America’s 100 most populous, the fourth-largest contingent of any state in the ranking, behind California (15), Texas (12), and Florida (10).
- Distracted driving crashes across those 9 New York counties totaled 460 between 2020 and 2024, accounting for roughly 6.5% of the 7,024 crashes logged across the full 100-county set.
- Suffolk County tops New York at 1.46 crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers, 1.42x the national average and the state’s only entry among the 25 most affected U.S. counties.
Distracted driving has become one of the most consistent contributors to crashes on New York roads, and a new analysis of the state’s most populous counties makes clear its footprint is uneven across the Empire State. Only one New York county posts a rate above the national average, with the rest clustered well below it.
According to an analysis by Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Las Vegas, distracted driving crash counts for 2020 to 2024 were pulled from the NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System through its CDAN query tool and cross-referenced with the US Census Bureau county population estimates for the same period. Each county’s crash total was normalized to a rate per 100,000 licensed drivers, and the 100 most populous U.S. counties were ranked from highest to lowest rates relative to a national benchmark of 1.03 crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers.
New York’s 9 Largest Counties Ranked by Distracted Driving Crash Rate, 2020 to 2024
| Rank | County | Avg. Crashes Per 100,000 Licensed Drivers | Total Crashes (2020-2024) |
| 1 | Suffolk County | 1.46 | 112 |
| 2 | Monroe County | 0.98 | 37 |
| 3 | Queens County | 0.79 | 92 |
| 4 | Bronx County | 0.68 | 48 |
| 5 | Erie County | 0.65 | 31 |
| 6 | Nassau County | 0.55 | 38 |
| 7 | Kings County | 0.45 | 59 |
| 8 | New York County | 0.38 | 31 |
| 9 | Westchester County | 0.24 | 12 |
| Suffolk County on Long Island leads New York with 1.46 crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers, landing 1.42x the 1.03 national benchmark. Monroe County (Rochester) follows at 0.98, just shy of the benchmark. Only 1 of the 9 New York counties exceeds the benchmark, and Suffolk is the state’s sole entry inside the top 25 nationally. |
Looking at the study, Ramzy Ladah, Founder & CEO of Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers, Las Vegas, commented:
“Behind every crash in this data is a person, a family, and a community absorbing the impact. Distracted driving is among the most preventable risks on American roads, and these figures from New York are a reminder that a single glance away from the wheel can reshape a life. Stay focused.”
Where New York Stands Among the States With the Most Counties in the 100-County Ranking
| Rank | State | Counties in the Top 100 | Combined Total Crashes (2020-2024) |
| 1 | California | 15 | 892 |
| 2 | Texas | 12 | 1,391 |
| 3 | Florida | 10 | 1,049 |
| 4 | New York | 9 | 460 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | 5 | 176 |
| 6 | Illinois | 4 | 717 |
| 7 | New Jersey | 4 | 351 |
| 8 | Georgia | 4 | 83 |
| New York places 9 counties in the national 100, the fourth-largest contingent of any state. But on combined crash volume, New York ranks 5th with 460 crashes, behind Texas (1,391), Florida (1,049), California (892), and Illinois (717). New York’s 9 counties average roughly 51 crashes each, less than half of Florida’s per-county average and well below Texas’s 116. |
New York Counties Ranked by Total Distracted Driving Crash Volume, 2020 to 2024
| Rank | County | Total Crashes (2020-2024) | Avg. Crashes Per 100,000 Licensed Drivers |
| 1 | Suffolk County | 112 | 1.46 |
| 2 | Queens County | 92 | 0.79 |
| 3 | Kings County | 59 | 0.45 |
| 4 | Bronx County | 48 | 0.68 |
| 5 | Nassau County | 38 | 0.55 |
| 6 | Monroe County | 37 | 0.98 |
| 7 | Erie County | 31 | 0.65 |
| 8 | New York County | 31 | 0.38 |
| 9 | Westchester County | 12 | 0.24 |
| Suffolk County logs the largest absolute crash volume in New York at 112, ahead of Queens County (92) and Kings County (59). Notably, all four New York City boroughs in the ranking (Queens, Bronx, Kings, and New York) post rates below the 1.03 national benchmark, despite their combined population of millions. The top 5 New York counties by volume account for 349 crashes, or 75.9% of the state’s 460-crash total. |
New York Counties Least Affected by Distracted Driving Crashes, 2020 to 2024
| New York Rank | County | Avg. Crashes Per 100,000 Licensed Drivers |
| 5 | Erie County | 0.65 |
| 6 | Nassau County | 0.55 |
| 7 | Kings County | 0.45 |
| 8 | New York County | 0.38 |
| 9 | Westchester County | 0.24 |
| Westchester County closes out the New York list with the lowest rate at 0.24 distracted driving crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers, ranking 94th nationally. Together with New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Nassau County, and Erie County (Buffalo), all five sit far below the 1.03 national benchmark — even as they cover some of the densest urban areas in the country. |
Methodology
The analysis draws on distracted driving crash counts for 2020 to 2024 published by the NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System through its CDAN query tool, combined with 2020 to 2024 average county population estimates from the US Census Bureau. The universe covers the 100 most populous U.S. counties by that population measure. Each county’s crash count was normalized to a rate per 100,000 licensed drivers so that counties of different sizes could be compared directly. Counties were then ranked from the highest to the lowest rate, with Rank 1 indicating the county most affected and Rank 100 the least affected. A national benchmark of 1.03 crashes per 100,000 licensed drivers serves as the comparison point throughout, and findings describe the 100 most populous U.S. counties only, rather than all U.S. counties.
Data Sources
- NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System (CDAN query tool) → https://cdan.dot.gov/query
- US Census Bureau, County Population Estimates (2020-2024) → https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html
- Research Dataset → https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1KISke5aB9IPBwSz5tPBF6cfnKjrmyUekKmFVmq7MELA/edit?gid=0#gid=0
- Study by → https://www.ladahlaw.com/
About Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Las Vegas
The study was conducted by Ladah Injury & Car Accident Lawyers Las Vegas, an experienced personal injury law firm dedicated to protecting clients’ rights and maximizing claim value.
