San Luis Obispo County, California: fatal crash statistics

Counties of California by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 30 deaths in 26 fatal crashes in San Luis Obispo County in 2024.

FARS records 308 deaths in 286 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.9 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, San Luis Obispo County was number 28 of 58 counties of California.

Deaths in San Luis Obispo County fell by 9.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (339) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (308).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 51.9% of the fatal crashes in San Luis Obispo 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 San Luis Obispo 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.San Luis Obispo County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	30	26	13
2023	20	20	8
2022	35	33	8
2021	27	27	11
2020	22	18	4
2019	33	30	10
2018	41	38	12
2017	34	32	16
2016	32	31	10
2015	34	31	15
2015 to 2024	308	286	107

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in San Luis Obispo County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 70 (1987)2024: 30

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

Table 2.San Luis Obispo County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	30	26
2023	20	20
2022	35	33
2021	27	27
2020	22	18
2019	33	30
2018	41	38
2017	34	32
2016	32	31
2015	34	31
2014	32	27
2013	28	26
2012	29	28
2011	24	21
2010	17	17
2009	32	29
2008	27	26
2007	52	44
2006	43	37
2005	55	46
2004	48	45
2003	34	30
2002	39	32
2001	44	31
2000	31	28
1999	46	33
1998	39	34
1997	31	31
1996	32	28
1995	29	22
1994	42	37
1993	38	35
1992	32	28
1991	43	37
1990	44	40
1989	39	36
1988	47	43
1987	70	65
1986	56	43
1985	48	45
1984	54	48
1983	40	35
1982	59	51
1981	40	34
1980	46	44
1979	45	40
1978	36	32
1977	48	42
1976	32	30
1975	39	36

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.San Luis Obispo County beside California and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	San Luis Obispo County	California	United States
2024	10.6	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.9	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. San Luis Obispo County had 282,153 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.San Luis Obispo County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in California
A driver recorded as drinkingof 286 fatal crashes	107	286 fatal crashes	37.4%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 286 fatal crashes	80	286 fatal crashes	28.0%	30.2%
No restraint usedof 186 occupant deaths with restraint use known	65	186 occupant deathswith restraint use known	34.9%	38.0%
Pedestriansof 308 deaths	44	308 deaths	14.3%	26.0%
Bicyclistsof 308 deaths	14	308 deaths	4.5%	3.8%
Motorcyclistsof 308 deaths	49	308 deaths	15.9%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 285 fatal crashes with the condition reported	148	285 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.9%	29.9%
In the darkof 285 fatal crashes with the condition reported	140	285 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	49.1%	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.San Luis Obispo 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	6	18	11	42
Monday	5	4	14	11	34
Tuesday	7	5	8	15	35
Wednesday	4	6	11	12	33
Thursday	6	5	11	15	37
Friday	4	6	15	16	41
Saturday	8	11	9	28	56
All days	41	43	86	108	278

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.San Luis Obispo County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in California
Interstate	0	0.0%	13.7%
Other freeways and expressways	114	40.0%	12.6%
Other principal arterial	45	15.8%	30.1%
Minor arterial	67	23.5%	21.7%
Major collector	36	12.6%	12.3%
Minor collector	13	4.6%	2.3%
Local	10	3.5%	7.3%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.San Luis Obispo County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	137
Dark, not lighted	100
Dark, lighted	40
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.San Luis Obispo County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	228
Cloudy	40
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in San Luis Obispo County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In San Luis Obispo	In all of California
State Route 1	State highway	18	502
State Route 41	State highway	21	165
State Route 46	State highway	33	63
State Route 58	State highway	7	135
State Route 166	State highway	10	41
US Route 101	US highway	77	1,025

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.San Luis Obispo 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
San Luis Obispo County: 10.9

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 San Luis Obispo County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Kern County	California	194	1,808	20.1
Kings County	California	30	288	19.0
Monterey County	California	45	481	11.1
Santa Barbara County	California	38	380	8.6

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 San Luis Obispo 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. San Luis Obispo County, California: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ca/san-luis-obispo/. 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 San Luis Obispo in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 339 deaths in San Luis Obispo County from 2005 to 2014. It records 308 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of San Luis Obispo in 2024?

The rate of San Luis Obispo County in 2024 was 10.6 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 San Luis Obispo had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 107 of 286 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 San Luis Obispo?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 166 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.