Shelby County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Alabama by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 12 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Shelby County in 2024.

FARS records 209 deaths in 195 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.4 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, Shelby County was number 10 of 67 counties of Alabama.

Deaths in Shelby County fell by 0.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (211) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (209).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 41.5% of the fatal crashes in Shelby County with a known setting were rural, against 59.4% 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 Shelby 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.Shelby County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	12	9	1 or 2
2023	21	20	7
2022	18	18	3
2021	16	15	4
2020	20	20	3
2019	26	23	8
2018	27	25	5
2017	24	23	1 or 2
2016	26	24	6
2015	19	18	4
2015 to 2024	209	195	44

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 35 (1990)2024: 12

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

Table 2.Shelby County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	12	9
2023	21	20
2022	18	18
2021	16	15
2020	20	20
2019	26	23
2018	27	25
2017	24	23
2016	26	24
2015	19	18
2014	20	19
2013	16	16
2012	16	14
2011	15	13
2010	23	19
2009	15	15
2008	24	23
2007	30	26
2006	27	24
2005	25	24
2004	30	30
2003	24	20
2002	25	21
2001	11	11
2000	28	26
1999	27	22
1998	20	19
1997	34	28
1996	18	18
1995	27	24
1994	32	30
1993	31	23
1992	28	25
1991	22	20
1990	35	30
1989	28	24
1988	28	27
1987	27	25
1986	18	17
1985	20	17
1984	20	16
1983	13	12
1982	18	17
1981	10	9
1980	20	18
1979	24	22
1978	25	23
1977	19	18
1976	16	14
1975	22	19

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.Shelby County beside Alabama and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Shelby County	Alabama	United States
2024	5.1	18.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.4	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. Shelby County had 235,806 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Shelby County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Alabama
A driver recorded as drinkingof 195 fatal crashes	44	195 fatal crashes	22.6%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 195 fatal crashes	42	195 fatal crashes	21.5%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 148 occupant deaths with restraint use known	82	148 occupant deathswith restraint use known	55.4%	57.6%
Pedestriansof 209 deaths	21	209 deaths	10.0%	12.0%
Bicyclistsof 209 deaths	1 or 2	209 deaths	0.5%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 209 deaths	28	209 deaths	13.4%	9.5%
On a rural roadof 195 fatal crashes with the condition reported	81	195 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	41.5%	59.4%
In the darkof 195 fatal crashes with the condition reported	88	195 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.1%	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.Shelby 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	9	3	9	10	31
Monday	7	3	11	9	30
Tuesday	4	7	9	6	26
Wednesday	3	7	10	5	25
Thursday	1 or 2	10	11	9	32
Friday	3	6	8	8	25
Saturday	10	3	6	7	26
All days	38	39	64	54	195

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.Shelby County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Alabama
Interstate	34	17.4%	13.1%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.5%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	43	22.1%	27.4%
Minor arterial	61	31.3%	23.1%
Major collector	31	15.9%	21.1%
Minor collector	6	3.1%	3.0%
Local	19	9.7%	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.Shelby County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	98
Dark, not lighted	72
Dark, lighted	15
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Shelby County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	148
Cloudy	29
Rain	17
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 Shelby County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Shelby	In all of Alabama
Interstate 65	Interstate	34	437
State Route 3	State highway	1 or 2	32
State Route 25	State highway	17	43
State Route 51	State highway	1 or 2	27
US Route 31	US highway	4	104
US Route 280	US highway	12	60

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.Shelby 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
Shelby County: 9.4

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 Shelby County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bibb County	Alabama	5	51	22.9
Chilton County	Alabama	16	136	30.2
Coosa County	Alabama	6	50	47.5
Jefferson County	Alabama	101	959	14.4
St. Clair County	Alabama	18	196	21.5
Talladega County	Alabama	27	228	28.2

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 Shelby 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. Shelby County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/al/shelby/. 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 Shelby in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 211 deaths in Shelby County from 2005 to 2014. It records 209 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Shelby in 2024?

The rate of Shelby County in 2024 was 5.1 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 Shelby had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 44 of 195 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 Shelby?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 70 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.