Up to 443 people may die in preventable traffic crashes during the 2025 Memorial Day holiday period, representing a 6 percent increase from 2024’s estimate, according to the National Safety Council.

The Memorial Day holiday, along with other summertime holidays (Independence Day and Labor Day), has the highest average fatality rates per day.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day holidays tend to have lower average daily fatality rates, according to government data.

The average number of traffic deaths during Memorial Day over the last six years is 10.1 percent higher than the average number of traffic deaths during the comparison periods (449 vs. 408 deaths).

With holiday travel common in the US, many travel by car, which has the highest fatality rate of any major form of motorized transportation based on fatalities per passenger mile.

Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday in May. The holiday is always a 3.25-day weekend – Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. In 2025, the Memorial Day weekend extends from 6 p.m. Friday, May 23, to 11:59 p.m. Monday, May 26.

“Memorial Day weekend typically brings increased traffic and higher risks for drivers,” said Mark Chung, vice president of safety leadership and advocacy at NSC. “The good news is that we’ve had a slight decrease in yearly fatalities, but the bad news is that we are still in a crisis, seeing nearly 120 people die on our roadways daily.”