La Plata County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Colorado by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 11 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in La Plata County in 2024.

FARS records 97 deaths in 88 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.3 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, La Plata County was number 13 of 64 counties of Colorado.

Deaths in La Plata County fell by 12.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (111) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (97).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 79.5% of the fatal crashes in La Plata 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 La Plata 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.La Plata County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	11	11	1 or 2
2023	12	10	4
2022	13	12	4
2021	12	11	5
2020	5	5	4
2019	8	6	1 or 2
2018	8	8	3
2017	11	9	5
2016	10	9	6
2015	7	7	3
2015 to 2024	97	88	38

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1982)2024: 11

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

Table 2.La Plata County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	11	11
2023	12	10
2022	13	12
2021	12	11
2020	5	5
2019	8	6
2018	8	8
2017	11	9
2016	10	9
2015	7	7
2014	5	3
2013	12	10
2012	17	15
2011	11	6
2010	6	6
2009	13	12
2008	8	7
2007	16	13
2006	12	11
2005	11	8
2004	17	15
2003	14	13
2002	15	10
2001	12	10
2000	13	12
1999	15	14
1998	12	10
1997	15	11
1996	13	11
1995	19	15
1994	5	5
1993	6	6
1992	15	14
1991	10	7
1990	5	5
1989	4	4
1988	5	5
1987	10	9
1986	15	10
1985	9	8
1984	13	11
1983	14	13
1982	20	17
1981	16	13
1980	19	17
1979	7	7
1978	14	12
1977	10	10
1976	5	5
1975	7	7

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.La Plata County beside Colorado and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	La Plata County	Colorado	United States
2024	19.3	11.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.3	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. La Plata County had 56,930 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.La Plata County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Colorado
A driver recorded as drinkingof 88 fatal crashes	38	88 fatal crashes	43.2%	34.1%
A speeding-related driverof 88 fatal crashes	33	88 fatal crashes	37.5%	35.4%
No restraint usedof 66 occupant deaths with restraint use known	32	66 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.5%	54.5%
Pedestriansof 97 deaths	11	97 deaths	11.3%	14.1%
Bicyclistsof 97 deaths	1 or 2	97 deaths	2.1%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 97 deaths	14	97 deaths	14.4%	19.4%
On a rural roadof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	70	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	79.5%	39.1%
In the darkof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	36	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	40.9%	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.La Plata 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	4	3	5	4	16
Monday	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	5	12
Tuesday	1 or 2	4	3	3	12
Wednesday	0	5	4	3	12
Thursday	0	3	1 or 2	3	8
Friday	0	3	4	10	17
Saturday	1 or 2	3	4	1 or 2	11
All days	9	25	24	30	88

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.La Plata County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Colorado
Interstate	0	0.0%	14.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	4.6%
Other principal arterial	60	68.2%	39.3%
Minor arterial	1 or 2	1.1%	19.3%
Major collector	17	19.3%	10.2%
Minor collector	7	8.0%	2.8%
Local	3	3.4%	8.9%
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.La Plata County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	46
Dark, not lighted	29
Dark, lighted	7
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.La Plata County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	44
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	6
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	33

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in La Plata County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In La Plata	In all of Colorado
US Route 160	US highway	36	136
US Route 550	US highway	20	57

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.La Plata 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
La Plata County: 17.3

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 La Plata County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Archuleta County	Colorado	3	28	20.6
Hinsdale County	Colorado	0	6	77.3
Montezuma County	Colorado	4	52	19.8
San Juan County	Colorado	1 or 2	9	120.8
San Juan County	New Mexico	20	285	23.0

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 La Plata 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. La Plata County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/co/la-plata/. 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 La Plata in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 111 deaths in La Plata County from 2005 to 2014. It records 97 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of La Plata in 2024?

The rate of La Plata County in 2024 was 19.3 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 La Plata had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 38 of 88 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 La Plata?

FARS records 36 fatal crashes on US Route 160 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 20 fatal crashes on US Route 550 in the county from 2015 to 2024.