Tuscaloosa County, Alabama: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Alabama by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 35 deaths in 35 fatal crashes in Tuscaloosa County in 2024.

FARS records 381 deaths in 349 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.1 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, Tuscaloosa County was number 5 of 67 counties of Alabama.

Deaths in Tuscaloosa County rose by 5.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (363) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (381).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a driver was recorded as drinking in 36.4% of fatal crashes in Tuscaloosa County and 25.4% 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 Tuscaloosa 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.Tuscaloosa County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	35	35	16
2023	31	28	16
2022	44	41	13
2021	48	40	19
2020	37	31	6
2019	31	29	9
2018	27	25	10
2017	37	35	7
2016	50	46	13
2015	41	39	18
2015 to 2024	381	349	127

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 50 (2016)2024: 35

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

Table 2.Tuscaloosa County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	35	35
2023	31	28
2022	44	41
2021	48	40
2020	37	31
2019	31	29
2018	27	25
2017	37	35
2016	50	46
2015	41	39
2014	38	34
2013	27	26
2012	40	38
2011	28	24
2010	35	30
2009	36	35
2008	34	30
2007	45	45
2006	44	41
2005	36	34
2004	48	41
2003	30	27
2002	35	34
2001	35	30
2000	32	29
1999	41	34
1998	41	35
1997	37	34
1996	37	32
1995	36	31
1994	34	28
1993	20	19
1992	34	32
1991	49	41
1990	46	41
1989	36	33
1988	22	20
1987	44	42
1986	36	33
1985	29	27
1984	44	41
1983	21	19
1982	18	18
1981	26	22
1980	20	19
1979	35	30
1978	27	26
1977	22	22
1976	24	21
1975	28	24

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.Tuscaloosa County beside Alabama and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Tuscaloosa County	Alabama	United States
2024	14.5	18.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.1	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. Tuscaloosa County had 240,880 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Tuscaloosa County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Alabama
A driver recorded as drinkingof 349 fatal crashes	127	349 fatal crashes	36.4%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 349 fatal crashes	88	349 fatal crashes	25.2%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 270 occupant deaths with restraint use known	139	270 occupant deathswith restraint use known	51.5%	57.6%
Pedestriansof 381 deaths	56	381 deaths	14.7%	12.0%
Bicyclistsof 381 deaths	1 or 2	381 deaths	0.3%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 381 deaths	27	381 deaths	7.1%	9.5%
On a rural roadof 349 fatal crashes with the condition reported	193	349 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.3%	59.4%
In the darkof 349 fatal crashes with the condition reported	187	349 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	53.6%	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.Tuscaloosa 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	14	12	5	20	51
Monday	8	13	12	10	43
Tuesday	11	6	18	12	47
Wednesday	8	6	11	15	40
Thursday	8	10	13	14	45
Friday	13	9	14	15	51
Saturday	25	5	13	28	71
All days	87	61	86	114	348

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.Tuscaloosa County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Alabama
Interstate	58	16.6%	13.1%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.3%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	120	34.4%	27.4%
Minor arterial	77	22.1%	23.1%
Major collector	50	14.3%	21.1%
Minor collector	10	2.9%	3.0%
Local	33	9.5%	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.Tuscaloosa County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	151
Dark, not lighted	128
Dark, lighted	57
Dawn	3
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Tuscaloosa County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	239
Cloudy	74
Rain	32
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Tuscaloosa County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Tuscaloosa	In all of Alabama
Interstate 59	Interstate	51	262
State Route 13	State highway	5	40
State Route 69	State highway	25	99
US Route 11	US highway	7	31
US Route 43	US highway	13	54
US Route 82	US highway	21	59

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.Tuscaloosa 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
Tuscaloosa County: 17.1

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 Tuscaloosa County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bibb County	Alabama	5	51	22.9
Fayette County	Alabama	11	41	25.2
Greene County	Alabama	1 or 2	74	93.9
Hale County	Alabama	4	38	25.6
Jefferson County	Alabama	101	959	14.4
Pickens County	Alabama	7	46	23.6
Walker County	Alabama	22	195	30.2

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

FARS records 363 deaths in Tuscaloosa County from 2005 to 2014. It records 381 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Tuscaloosa in 2024?

The rate of Tuscaloosa County in 2024 was 14.5 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 Tuscaloosa had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 127 of 349 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 Tuscaloosa?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 122 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.