Montezuma County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Colorado by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 4 deaths in 4 fatal crashes in Montezuma County in 2024.

FARS records 52 deaths in 49 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.8 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, Montezuma County was number 19 of 64 counties of Colorado.

Deaths in Montezuma County fell by 11.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (59) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (52).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 71.4% of the fatal crashes in Montezuma 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 Montezuma County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Montezuma County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	4	4	1 or 2
2023	7	7	0
2022	7	6	1 or 2
2021	12	10	3
2020	5	5	1 or 2
2019	5	5	1 or 2
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2017	4	4	1 or 2
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	3	3	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	52	49	14

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 16 (2002)2024: 4

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

Table 2.Montezuma County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	4	4
2023	7	7
2022	7	6
2021	12	10
2020	5	5
2019	5	5
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	4	4
2016	4	4
2015	3	3
2014	5	4
2013	9	6
2012	3	3
2011	5	5
2010	7	5
2009	4	4
2008	3	3
2007	9	8
2006	8	6
2005	6	6
2004	11	9
2003	4	4
2002	16	13
2001	11	7
2000	6	4
1999	3	3
1998	7	6
1997	10	8
1996	8	8
1995	9	9
1994	8	8
1993	9	8
1992	7	6
1991	1 or 2	1 or 2
1990	9	8
1989	5	5
1988	6	5
1987	8	4
1986	9	5
1985	7	7
1984	5	3
1983	3	3
1982	9	8
1981	14	13
1980	3	3
1979	7	6
1978	5	5
1977	3	3
1976	9	8
1975	8	6

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.Montezuma County beside Colorado and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Montezuma County	Colorado	United States
2024	15.0	11.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.8	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. Montezuma County had 26,694 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Montezuma County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Colorado
A driver recorded as drinkingof 49 fatal crashes	14	49 fatal crashes	28.6%	34.1%
A speeding-related driverof 49 fatal crashes	16	49 fatal crashes	32.7%	35.4%
No restraint usedof 38 occupant deaths with restraint use known	19	38 occupant deathswith restraint use known	50.0%	54.5%
Pedestriansof 52 deaths	5	52 deaths	9.6%	14.1%
Bicyclistsof 52 deaths	0	52 deaths	0.0%	2.5%
Motorcyclistsof 52 deaths	6	52 deaths	11.5%	19.4%
On a rural roadof 49 fatal crashes with the condition reported	35	49 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	71.4%	39.1%
In the darkof 49 fatal crashes with the condition reported	15	49 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	30.6%	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.Montezuma 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	0	4	4	1 or 2	9
Monday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	1 or 2	0	6	3	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	3	5	12
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
Saturday	0	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2
All days	4	11	18	16	49

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.Montezuma 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	36	73.5%	39.3%
Minor arterial	1 or 2	2.0%	19.3%
Major collector	6	12.2%	10.2%
Minor collector	1 or 2	4.1%	2.8%
Local	4	8.2%	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.Montezuma County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	30
Dark, not lighted	15
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Montezuma County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	25
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	16

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Montezuma County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Montezuma	In all of Colorado
State Route 145	State highway	7	22
US Route 160	US highway	20	136

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.Montezuma 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
Montezuma County: 19.8

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 Colorado

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Montezuma County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Dolores County	Colorado	1 or 2	10	44.8
La Plata County	Colorado	11	97	17.3
San Juan County	New Mexico	20	285	23.0
San Juan County	Utah	7	82	55.2

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 Montezuma 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. Montezuma County, Colorado: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/co/montezuma/. 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 Montezuma in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 59 deaths in Montezuma County from 2005 to 2014. It records 52 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Montezuma in 2024?

The rate of Montezuma County in 2024 was 15.0 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 Montezuma had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 14 of 49 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 Montezuma?

FARS records 7 fatal crashes on State Route 145 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 20 fatal crashes on US Route 160 in the county from 2015 to 2024.