New Castle County, Delaware: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Delaware by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 61 deaths in 58 fatal crashes in New Castle County in 2024.

FARS records 623 deaths in 580 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 11.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Delaware in the same years is 13.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, New Castle County was number 1 of 3 counties of Delaware.

Deaths in New Castle County rose by 16.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (534) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (623).

In the counties of Delaware the deaths rose by 10.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 14.5% of the fatal crashes in New Castle County with a known setting were rural, against 40.5% in Delaware.

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 New Castle 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.New Castle County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	61	58	14
2023	59	57	15
2022	84	72	21
2021	70	67	13
2020	62	56	8
2019	58	54	10
2018	54	47	15
2017	59	56	13
2016	53	52	15
2015	63	61	17
2015 to 2024	623	580	141

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 89 (1988)2024: 61

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

Table 2.New Castle County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	61	58
2023	59	57
2022	84	72
2021	70	67
2020	62	56
2019	58	54
2018	54	47
2017	59	56
2016	53	52
2015	63	61
2014	59	50
2013	48	48
2012	55	53
2011	43	42
2010	46	43
2009	51	48
2008	50	47
2007	56	49
2006	63	60
2005	63	55
2004	58	54
2003	80	73
2002	61	56
2001	72	62
2000	59	56
1999	55	51
1998	58	55
1997	74	60
1996	63	57
1995	57	55
1994	48	46
1993	52	49
1992	63	54
1991	45	39
1990	75	64
1989	58	53
1988	89	79
1987	63	56
1986	53	48
1985	51	48
1984	70	61
1983	52	48
1982	61	57
1981	61	55
1980	82	73
1979	51	49
1978	67	60
1977	60	53
1976	62	54
1975	65	56

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.New Castle County beside Delaware and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	New Castle County	Delaware	United States
2024	10.4	12.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	11.0	13.0	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. New Castle County had 586,014 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.New Castle County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Delaware
A driver recorded as drinkingof 580 fatal crashes	141	580 fatal crashes	24.3%	25.0%
A speeding-related driverof 580 fatal crashes	161	580 fatal crashes	27.8%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 297 occupant deaths with restraint use known	141	297 occupant deathswith restraint use known	47.5%	47.4%
Pedestriansof 623 deaths	185	623 deaths	29.7%	22.6%
Bicyclistsof 623 deaths	10	623 deaths	1.6%	3.4%
Motorcyclistsof 623 deaths	96	623 deaths	15.4%	13.6%
On a rural roadof 578 fatal crashes with the condition reported	84	578 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	14.5%	40.5%
In the darkof 578 fatal crashes with the condition reported	343	578 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	59.3%	54.0%

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.New Castle 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	30	10	18	28	86
Monday	16	11	26	25	78
Tuesday	8	23	15	26	72
Wednesday	18	18	19	36	91
Thursday	11	10	19	26	66
Friday	17	15	20	40	92
Saturday	27	4	26	37	94
All days	127	91	143	218	579

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.New Castle County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Delaware
Interstate	84	14.5%	7.1%
Other freeways and expressways	34	5.9%	5.1%
Other principal arterial	224	38.8%	32.7%
Minor arterial	100	17.3%	16.8%
Major collector	83	14.4%	21.1%
Minor collector	15	2.6%	5.1%
Local	38	6.6%	12.1%
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.New Castle County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	204
Dark, not lighted	209
Dark, lighted	125
Dawn	14
Dusk	17
Dark, lighting unknown	9
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.New Castle County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	420
Cloudy	98
Rain	52
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in New Castle County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In New Castle	In all of Delaware
Interstate 95	Interstate	51	51
Interstate 495	Interstate	24	24
State Route 1	State highway	28	100
State Route 2	State highway	20	20
State Route 4	State highway	28	29
State Route 9	State highway	20	24
US Route 13	US highway	65	159
US Route 40	US highway	36	36

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 Delaware

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.New Castle County on the county map of Delaware

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

Fewer than 100 counties
10 to 14.91 county
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
New Castle County: 11.0

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 Delaware

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with New Castle County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Kent County	Delaware	30	275	15.1
Cecil County	Maryland	24	218	21.0
Kent County	Maryland	0	30	15.4
Gloucester County	New Jersey	32	362	12.1
Salem County	New Jersey	16	145	22.6
Chester County	Pennsylvania	24	319	6.0
Delaware County	Pennsylvania	32	264	4.6

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Delaware have a population nearest to that of New Castle 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.
Delaware Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Delaware.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. New Castle County, Delaware: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/de/new-castle/. 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 New Castle in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 534 deaths in New Castle County from 2005 to 2014. It records 623 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of New Castle in 2024?

The rate of New Castle County in 2024 was 10.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Delaware was 12.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in New Castle had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 141 of 580 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 New Castle?

8 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 272 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.