Falls on ice and snow are the number one cause of winter accidents. They account for over a third of winter-related hospitalizations and drive a measurable spike in emergency department visits every year between December and February. While winter driving crashes, house fires, and cold exposure all contribute to the seasonal injury toll, slipping on icy or snowy surfaces sends more people to the hospital than any other single winter hazard.
Why Ice and Snow Falls Top the List
Emergency department visits for falls peak during winter, and the pattern is driven almost entirely by what happens outdoors. A national analysis of fall-related ER visits found that 26.2% occurred during winter months, a higher share than any other season. Among outdoor fall injuries specifically, roughly 97% of all weather-related cases were caused by slips or trips on ice or snow. That’s not a rounding error. Nearly every weather-related fall injury in the data came down to the same basic mechanism: a person’s foot hit a slick surface and lost traction.
The medical costs of these injuries are staggering. Research from Sweden found that slipping on ice or snow caused 3.5 injuries per 1,000 residents per year, and the total medical cost of those injuries rivaled the cost of treating all traffic injuries in the same region during the same period. These aren’t just bruises and sore wrists. Falls on ice frequently result in fractures, head injuries, and orthopedic trauma serious enough to require hospitalization or surgery.
Who Gets Hurt Most
Two groups stand out in the data: elderly women and young men in their twenties. Older women face the highest injury rates, partly because post-menopausal bone loss and osteoporosis make fractures far more likely from even a moderate fall. A slip that might leave a 25-year-old with a bruise can give a 70-year-old woman a broken hip. Young men, meanwhile, appear frequently in injury statistics likely because of greater exposure. They spend more time outdoors in winter for work and recreation, often in conditions where ice and snow are unavoidable.
Winter Driving Crashes
Icy roads are the other major winter hazard, though they rank behind falls in total injury volume. In 2023, roughly 101,390 police-reported traffic crashes in the United States occurred during snow or sleet conditions. Those crashes caused an estimated 22,293 injuries and 320 fatal collisions. Those numbers are serious, but they represent a fraction of total winter emergency visits compared to the hundreds of thousands of fall injuries treated each year.
There is some good news on this front. Traffic fatalities overall dropped 8.2% in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024, even as Americans drove 12.1 billion more miles. The fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled fell to 1.06, down from 1.16 the year before. Better vehicle safety technology, improved road treatment, and winter tire adoption all likely play a role.
Snow Shoveling and Heart Attacks
Snow shoveling is one of the more underappreciated winter dangers, particularly for people over 50 or anyone with heart disease. The activity combines intense physical exertion with cold air exposure, often first thing in the morning when the cardiovascular system is already under circadian stress. Heart rate and blood pressure spike. Cold temperatures thicken the blood, increase clotting factors, and raise blood viscosity. For someone with underlying coronary artery disease who doesn’t exercise regularly, that combination can trigger a heart attack.
Researchers at the University of Virginia documented a doubling of the most severe type of heart attack cases within a single 24-hour period after a major snowstorm, compared to any other day in the preceding year. That’s not a gradual increase. It’s a sharp, dangerous spike tied directly to shoveling.
Heating Fires and Carbon Monoxide
Inside the home, heating equipment is the leading source of winter fires. One in every seven home fires and one in every five home fire deaths involves a heater, furnace, fireplace, or similar device. Space heaters are the worst offenders, especially portable electric or kerosene models placed too close to furniture, curtains, or bedding.
Carbon monoxide poisoning also peaks in cold months. CO causes more than 100,000 emergency department visits and at least 420 deaths annually in the United States. Common sources include gas furnaces, car exhaust in attached garages, portable generators, and gas-powered space heaters used indoors. The gas is colorless and odorless, so exposure often goes unnoticed until symptoms like headache, dizziness, and confusion set in. A working CO detector on every floor of your home is the simplest protection available.
Cold Exposure and Hypothermia
Hypothermia and frostbite round out the list of major winter hazards. CDC data from 2023 shows that deaths from excessive cold cluster heavily in November through February, with January alone accounting for nearly 20% of all cold-related deaths for the year. Most victims are older adults, people experiencing homelessness, or individuals who become stranded outdoors due to vehicle breakdowns or falls. Alcohol use is a consistent contributing factor, as it impairs the body’s ability to regulate temperature while creating a false sensation of warmth.
Practical Ways to Reduce Your Risk
Since ice falls cause more winter injuries than anything else, footwear matters more than most people realize. Shoes or boots with rubber soles and deep treads grip far better than smooth leather or worn-out sneakers. Slip-on traction devices that attach to your shoes cost around $15 to $30 and dramatically improve stability on ice. Walking with shorter steps, keeping your center of gravity over your feet, and avoiding carrying heavy loads that throw off your balance all help.
For snow shoveling, push snow rather than lifting it when possible, take frequent breaks, and avoid going out first thing in the morning if you have any cardiovascular risk factors. If you’re over 55 and sedentary, hiring someone to clear your driveway is a reasonable investment in not ending up in a cardiac catheterization lab.
Salt or sand your walkways before ice forms, not after. Keep your car’s gas tank at least half full to add weight over the rear axle and prevent fuel line freezing. And check that your home’s CO detectors have fresh batteries before you turn on the furnace for the season. Winter’s biggest dangers aren’t dramatic. They’re the ordinary moments, stepping outside to grab the mail, warming up the car in the garage, shoveling before breakfast, where a small precaution makes the difference.