Russell County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Alabama by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Russell County in 2024.

FARS records 164 deaths in 149 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 28.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Alabama in the same years is 19.3.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Russell County was number 19 of 67 counties of Alabama.

Deaths in Russell County fell by 1.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (167) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (164).

In the counties of Alabama the deaths rose by 0.3% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 45.5% of the occupants killed in Russell County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 57.6% in Alabama.

To qualify as a FARS case, the crash had to involve a motor vehicle traveling on a trafficway customarily open to the public and must have resulted in the death of a motorist or a non-motorist within 30 days of the crash.
The set of first files, known as the Annual Report File (ARF), is released following the crash year. The ARF is replaced about a year later with a final file, which contains additional cases or updates to cases that had become available after the ARF was released.
NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

This page rests on the FARS 2024 annual file. NHTSA released it on 1 Apr 2026. NHTSA can revise the counts in the final file. Release dates

Figure 1.Deaths in Russell County by year, 2015 to 2024

Table 1 has the numbers. Go to the table

Since the last update: no figure of this county has a change on record.

Deaths and fatal crashes by year

Table 1.Russell County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	8	1 or 2
2023	15	13	1 or 2
2022	14	13	4
2021	20	20	3
2020	19	18	3
2019	9	9	3
2018	16	16	1 or 2
2017	15	15	1 or 2
2016	29	21	6
2015	17	16	3
2015 to 2024	164	149	28

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Russell County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 29 (2006)2024: 10

The columns with a stronger shade are the years 2015 to 2024.

Table 2.Russell County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	8
2023	15	13
2022	14	13
2021	20	20
2020	19	18
2019	9	9
2018	16	16
2017	15	15
2016	29	21
2015	17	16
2014	14	12
2013	16	13
2012	11	9
2011	18	17
2010	18	17
2009	12	10
2008	19	19
2007	12	12
2006	29	25
2005	18	14
2004	19	13
2003	7	6
2002	23	20
2001	11	11
2000	24	22
1999	19	15
1998	20	18
1997	13	13
1996	23	21
1995	13	12
1994	20	14
1993	15	14
1992	10	10
1991	16	12
1990	14	10
1989	22	19
1988	11	10
1987	18	15
1986	9	9
1985	13	9
1984	16	14
1983	11	10
1982	9	9
1981	11	10
1980	11	11
1979	12	12
1978	12	11
1977	16	15
1976	14	13
1975	8	6

Note: a count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2". A death is in FARS when it occurs in 30 days or less after the crash.

Rate for each 100,000 residents

Table 3.Russell County beside Alabama and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Russell County	Alabama	United States
2024	17.0	18.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	28.1	19.3	11.8

Note: the rate divides the deaths in the county by its residents. Persons who do not live in the county are in the deaths, not in the residents.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Russell County had 58,959 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Russell County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Alabama
A driver recorded as drinkingof 149 fatal crashes	28	149 fatal crashes	18.8%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 149 fatal crashes	33	149 fatal crashes	22.1%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 112 occupant deaths with restraint use known	51	112 occupant deathswith restraint use known	45.5%	57.6%
Pedestriansof 164 deaths	28	164 deaths	17.1%	12.0%
Bicyclistsof 164 deaths	1 or 2	164 deaths	1.2%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 164 deaths	22	164 deaths	13.4%	9.5%
On a rural roadof 149 fatal crashes with the condition reported	74	149 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	49.7%	59.4%
In the darkof 149 fatal crashes with the condition reported	68	149 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.6%	47.8%

Note: FARS records a driver as drinking when police reported alcohol involvement or a test of the driver was positive for alcohol. It is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure, which uses a blood alcohol concentration of .08 g/dL or higher. One crash can be in two or more rows. NHTSA's definitions

Note that alcohol data is often missing. For that reason, this data element may under-count the actual number of drinking drivers.

NHTSA's words. Source: NHTSA, Fatality Analysis Reporting System Analytical User's Manual, 1975-2024 (DOT HS 813 794, April 2026), copied on 2 Oct 2026.

Weekday, time and road class

Table 5.Russell County: fatal crashes by weekday and time of day, 2015 to 2024
Weekday	Midnight to 6 a.m.	6 a.m. to noon	Noon to 6 p.m.	6 p.m. to midnight	All
Sunday	7	3	3	12	25
Monday	1 or 2	6	4	4	15
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	3	16
Wednesday	1 or 2	6	3	6	17
Thursday	1 or 2	6	7	7	22
Friday	1 or 2	10	7	9	27
Saturday	1 or 2	5	9	11	27
All days	17	37	43	52	149

Note: a cell with a stronger shade has a larger count. The table has the fatal crashes with a known hour and weekday.

Table 6.Russell County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Alabama
Interstate	1 or 2	0.7%	13.1%
Other freeways and expressways	6	4.0%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	71	47.7%	27.4%
Minor arterial	29	19.5%	23.1%
Major collector	29	19.5%	21.1%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	3.0%
Local	13	8.7%	12.0%
Not reported	0	n/a	n/a

Note: the classes are those of the Federal Highway Administration. The shares are of the crashes with a reported class. Road function classes

Light condition and weather

Table 7.Russell County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	74
Dark, not lighted	46
Dark, lighted	22
Dawn	3
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Russell County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	106
Cloudy	29
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Russell County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Russell	In all of Alabama
State Route 51	State highway	1 or 2	27
US Route 80	US highway	15	71
US Route 280	US highway	7	60
US Route 431	US highway	14	122

Note: the table has each route with a page that has a fatal crash in the county, in name order. Local streets and county roads have no page. Their crashes are in the county totals. All routes in Alabama

Adjacent counties

These lists are for navigation. They are in name order.

Figure 3.Russell County on the county map of Alabama

Deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year, 2015 to 2024

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.96 counties
15 to 19.913 counties
20 to 29.928 counties
30 or more19 counties
Russell County: 28.1

The limits of the classes are the same for every state. A county with few residents can show a high rate from few deaths. A class is not a judgement of a county. The full map and the table of counties of Alabama

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Russell County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Barbour County	Alabama	7	66	26.4
Bullock County	Alabama	4	52	51.2
Lee County	Alabama	26	193	11.3
Macon County	Alabama	8	92	49.2
Chattahoochee County	Georgia	1 or 2	21	21.6
Muscogee County	Georgia	25	232	11.6
Stewart County	Georgia	1 or 2	18	32.3

Source of the list: Census Bureau county adjacency file, 2026 edition.

Counties of similar population

These counties of Alabama have a population nearest to that of Russell County. The list is for navigation and is in name order. The number is the deaths from 2015 to 2024.

Official channels

NHTSA Fatality and Injury Reporting System Tool (FIRST)NHTSA's query tool for FARS counts.
NHTSA FARS EncyclopediaNHTSA's tables of FARS data.
Alabama Department of Economic and Community AffairsThe highway safety office of Alabama.

These links go to the sites of the agencies. They were checked on 2 Oct 2026.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Russell County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/al/russell/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to 31 Dec 2024.

The address of this page does not change.

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Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national files of 1975 to 2024. The factors use the vehicle and person files from 2015. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Map: Census Bureau cartographic boundary file, 2021 edition. Data to 31 Dec 2024. The figures are totals. No page of this site is about one crash or one person.

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

How many deaths did FARS record in Russell in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 167 deaths in Russell County from 2005 to 2014. It records 164 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Russell in 2024?

The rate of Russell County in 2024 was 17.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Alabama was 18.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Russell had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 28 of 149 fatal crashes from 2015 to 2024. This count is not NHTSA's alcohol-impaired measure. NHTSA says that alcohol data is often missing, so the count may be too low.

How many fatal crashes did FARS record on signed routes in Russell?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 38 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.