Del Norte County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Del Norte County in 2024.

FARS records 76 deaths in 69 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 27.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of California in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Del Norte County was number 51 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in Del Norte County fell by 18.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (93) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (76).

In the counties of California the deaths rose by 17.5% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 85.5% of the fatal crashes in Del Norte County with a known setting were rural, against 29.9% in California.

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 Del Norte 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.Del Norte County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	6	1 or 2
2023	5	5	1 or 2
2022	5	5	1 or 2
2021	6	4	1 or 2
2020	4	4	1 or 2
2019	11	8	1 or 2
2018	10	9	1 or 2
2017	6	6	3
2016	8	8	1 or 2
2015	15	14	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	76	69	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 15 (1976)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Del Norte County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	6
2023	5	5
2022	5	5
2021	6	4
2020	4	4
2019	11	8
2018	10	9
2017	6	6
2016	8	8
2015	15	14
2014	8	8
2013	12	10
2012	9	7
2011	10	10
2010	7	6
2009	6	6
2008	6	6
2007	10	9
2006	15	10
2005	10	9
2004	10	7
2003	10	9
2002	9	8
2001	6	5
2000	8	7
1999	7	7
1998	9	9
1997	11	8
1996	5	5
1995	3	3
1994	10	8
1993	5	4
1992	7	7
1991	8	6
1990	7	6
1989	12	10
1988	12	12
1987	7	7
1986	7	6
1985	8	7
1984	6	6
1983	13	12
1982	5	4
1981	7	7
1980	7	7
1979	8	6
1978	8	8
1977	11	9
1976	15	11
1975	9	8

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.Del Norte County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Del Norte County	California	United States
2024	22.3	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	27.8	10.1	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. Del Norte County had 26,959 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Del Norte County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 69 fatal crashes	17	69 fatal crashes	24.6%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 69 fatal crashes	22	69 fatal crashes	31.9%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 51 occupant deaths with restraint use known	16	51 occupant deathswith restraint use known	31.4%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 76 deaths	8	76 deaths	10.5%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 76 deaths	4	76 deaths	5.3%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 76 deaths	7	76 deaths	9.2%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 69 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	69 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	85.5%	29.9%
In the darkof 69 fatal crashes with the condition reported	25	69 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	36.2%	57.5%

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.Del Norte 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	1 or 2	3	4	3	11
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	5	4	10
Thursday	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	3	10
Friday	1 or 2	3	6	4	14
Saturday	1 or 2	0	0	3	5
All days	7	14	20	21	62

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.Del Norte County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	1 or 2	1.4%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	15	21.7%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	35	50.7%	30.1%
Minor arterial	0	0.0%	21.7%
Major collector	16	23.2%	12.3%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.4%	2.3%
Local	1 or 2	1.4%	7.3%
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.Del Norte County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	40
Dark, not lighted	24
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Del Norte County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	33
Cloudy	22
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Del Norte County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Del Norte	In all of California
US Route 101	US highway	25	1,025
US Route 199	US highway	25	25

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 California

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Del Norte County on the county map of California

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

Fewer than 1014 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.914 counties
20 to 29.913 counties
30 or more8 counties
Del Norte County: 27.8

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 California

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Del Norte County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Humboldt County	California	26	249	18.4
Siskiyou County	California	12	138	31.8
Curry County	Oregon	8	37	16.1
Josephine County	Oregon	14	194	22.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of California have a population nearest to that of Del Norte 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.
California Office of Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of California.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Del Norte County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/del-norte/. 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.

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 Del Norte in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 93 deaths in Del Norte County from 2005 to 2014. It records 76 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Del Norte in 2024?

The rate of Del Norte County in 2024 was 22.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of California was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 of 69 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 Del Norte?

FARS records 25 fatal crashes on US Route 101 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 25 fatal crashes on US Route 199 in the county from 2015 to 2024.