El Paso County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Colorado by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 78 deaths in 73 fatal crashes in El Paso County in 2024.

FARS records 721 deaths in 681 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Colorado in the same years is 11.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, El Paso County was number 1 of 64 counties of Colorado.

Deaths in El Paso County rose by 60.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (449) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (721).

In the counties of Colorado the deaths rose by 29.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 19.3% of the fatal crashes in El Paso County with a known setting were rural, against 39.1% in Colorado.

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 El Paso 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.El Paso County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	78	73	21
2023	78	76	18
2022	83	79	21
2021	77	73	22
2020	85	82	41
2019	66	62	25
2018	81	75	30
2017	77	70	21
2016	48	45	20
2015	48	46	19
2015 to 2024	721	681	238

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 85 (2020)2024: 78

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

Table 2.El Paso County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	78	73
2023	78	76
2022	83	79
2021	77	73
2020	85	82
2019	66	62
2018	81	75
2017	77	70
2016	48	45
2015	48	46
2014	53	50
2013	63	55
2012	43	40
2011	43	40
2010	41	37
2009	42	40
2008	47	41
2007	39	37
2006	31	29
2005	47	46
2004	58	50
2003	63	57
2002	53	50
2001	54	48
2000	71	65
1999	52	44
1998	44	42
1997	45	42
1996	55	48
1995	54	51
1994	48	41
1993	46	45
1992	47	43
1991	50	47
1990	57	55
1989	50	45
1988	49	41
1987	60	53
1986	67	58
1985	67	64
1984	55	50
1983	58	56
1982	51	47
1981	65	58
1980	46	43
1979	57	52
1978	63	57
1977	51	44
1976	45	43
1975	32	30

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.El Paso County beside Colorado and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	El Paso County	Colorado	United States
2024	10.4	11.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.0	11.4	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. El Paso County had 752,356 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.El Paso County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Colorado
A driver recorded as drinkingof 681 fatal crashes	238	681 fatal crashes	34.9%	34.1%
A speeding-related driverof 681 fatal crashes	230	681 fatal crashes	33.8%	35.4%
No restraint usedof 394 occupant deaths with restraint use known	214	394 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.3%	54.5%
Pedestriansof 721 deaths	110	721 deaths	15.3%	14.1%
Bicyclistsof 721 deaths	24	721 deaths	3.3%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 721 deaths	175	721 deaths	24.3%	19.4%
On a rural roadof 679 fatal crashes with the condition reported	131	679 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	19.3%	39.1%
In the darkof 681 fatal crashes with the condition reported	333	681 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.9%	45.1%

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.El Paso 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	36	15	36	25	112
Monday	12	20	21	31	84
Tuesday	11	15	33	27	86
Wednesday	10	21	29	34	94
Thursday	14	14	26	30	84
Friday	17	14	28	45	104
Saturday	22	15	29	51	117
All days	122	114	202	243	681

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.El Paso County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Colorado
Interstate	96	14.1%	14.9%
Other freeways and expressways	43	6.3%	4.6%
Other principal arterial	341	50.2%	39.3%
Minor arterial	122	18.0%	19.3%
Major collector	18	2.7%	10.2%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.3%	2.8%
Local	57	8.4%	8.9%
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.El Paso County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	308
Dark, not lighted	101
Dark, lighted	232
Dawn	15
Dusk	25
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.El Paso County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	296
Cloudy	16
Rain	20
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	12
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	334

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in El Paso County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In El Paso	In all of Colorado
Interstate 25	Interstate	95	382
State Route 21	State highway	23	23
State Route 83	State highway	10	71
State Route 94	State highway	18	20
State Route 115	State highway	17	34
US Route 24	US highway	67	110
US Route 85	US highway	8	146

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 Colorado

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.El Paso County on the county map of Colorado

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

Fewer than 108 counties
10 to 14.99 counties
15 to 19.917 counties
20 to 29.912 counties
30 or more18 counties
El Paso County: 10.0

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 Colorado

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with El Paso County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Douglas County	Colorado	19	207	5.8
Elbert County	Colorado	4	39	14.6
Fremont County	Colorado	11	77	15.9
Lincoln County	Colorado	6	39	70.1
Pueblo County	Colorado	25	290	17.3
Teller County	Colorado	0	27	10.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Colorado have a population nearest to that of El Paso 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.
Colorado Office of Transportation SafetyThe highway safety office of Colorado.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. El Paso County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/co/el-paso/. 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 El Paso in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 449 deaths in El Paso County from 2005 to 2014. It records 721 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of El Paso in 2024?

The rate of El Paso County in 2024 was 10.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Colorado was 11.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 238 of 681 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 El Paso?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 238 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.