Where the numbers come from
The numbers come from NHTSA's national FARS files, which cover traffic crashes that meet the federal definition of a fatal crash. We used the same steps for every road and county. Each published number can be traced back to one of the three official source files linked below.
- Original source
- NHTSA FARS
- Last checked
- 2026-08-25
- Years included
- 2022–2024
Open the original source files
- Year
- 2022 National CSV
- Area covered
- United States
- Date checked
- 2026-08-25
- Year
- 2023 National CSV
- Area covered
- United States
- Date checked
- 2026-08-25
- Year
- 2024 National CSV
- Area covered
- United States
- Date checked
- 2026-08-25
File checks for researchers
We recorded a SHA-256 fingerprint for each downloaded file so another researcher can confirm that the source file did not change during processing.
Download version: 2026-08-25.2.
- 2022: 989448d7a2f3964264c96a3cdb220f6c413c782a33eb759781f520c5acb5f744
- 2023: edde841eb493e55751961b36bac2d1ce8750f601cb8e6e183a525723bb62bab0
- 2024: 5112727a8c0dc91ffee27ca05bddb073934f2d192ce4fae997da767dccdbe04f
What each number means
Fatal crash
A FARS qualifying traffic crash in which at least one person died within 30 days. It is one crash record, not one person.
Corridor fatal crash
A fatal crash where FARS trafficway field 1 normalized to the selected Interstate or U.S. route, or field 2 did so when field 1 did not. A record is counted once.
Fatalities
The number of people reported killed in those qualifying crashes. It can be greater than the number of crashes.
County fatal-crash total
Every qualifying FARS fatal crash in the named county and period, regardless of the road. We compare the route count with this county total.
Route share of county total
Fatal crashes on the named road divided by all fatal crashes in the county, shown as a percentage. It does not measure the risk of driving there.
Large-truck involvement
At least one medium or heavy truck over 10,000 pounds GVWR, or a FARS unknown medium/heavy truck type, was recorded. Involvement is not fault.
Pedestrian involvement
The crash record reported one or more pedestrians. This is not a count of pedestrian injuries and does not say how the crash happened.
Why these 25 roads appear
We started with one Interstate or U.S. route in a county from each of 25 states. Each road had at least 25 fatal crashes over the three years combined. That threshold only decided which roads to include. It does not hide smaller yearly, pedestrian or truck totals. These are not the 25 most dangerous roads, and the numbers do not measure risk per mile or per vehicle.
Why places are named but people are not
Roads, counties and cities stay named because the purpose is to understand a place. We publish totals, including totals from zero through four, but not the exact crash point or time, a case number, a VIN or plate, a name, an address or a crash narrative. Nothing in the download identifies a person.
What these numbers cannot tell you
- 01FARS counts fatal crashes only, not all crashes, injuries, claims or lawsuits.
- 02Road names can appear differently because each state records them in its own crash files.
- 03The route percentage compares fatal crashes on the named road with the county total. It does not account for traffic volume, road length or population, so it cannot compare the risk of driving on different roads.
- 04Crash or truck involvement does not establish fault, causation or legal eligibility.
- 05We show yearly, pedestrian and truck counts from zero through four instead of hiding them.
- 06We do not publish the exact crash point or time, a case number, a VIN or plate, a name, an address or a crash narrative.
Download the numbers
Choose CSV for a spreadsheet, JSON for code or the data dictionary for a plain definition of every column.
Last updated August 25, 2026. The download now includes county totals and each road's share of that total. Small totals are shown as recorded.