Sarasota County, Florida: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Florida by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 56 deaths in 52 fatal crashes in Sarasota County in 2024.

FARS records 577 deaths in 534 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 13.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Florida in the same years is 15.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Sarasota County was number 18 of 67 counties of Florida.

Deaths in Sarasota County rose by 30.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (443) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (577).

In the counties of Florida the deaths rose by 17.6% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 39.1% of the occupants killed in Sarasota County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 45.3% in Florida.

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 Sarasota 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.Sarasota County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	56	52	8
2023	58	57	13
2022	58	52	17
2021	61	57	9
2020	61	55	20
2019	57	52	14
2018	51	48	13
2017	49	44	15
2016	68	63	15
2015	58	54	16
2015 to 2024	577	534	140

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 69 (2003)2024: 56

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

Table 2.Sarasota County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	56	52
2023	58	57
2022	58	52
2021	61	57
2020	61	55
2019	57	52
2018	51	48
2017	49	44
2016	68	63
2015	58	54
2014	31	31
2013	31	30
2012	47	44
2011	37	33
2010	41	37
2009	40	36
2008	42	42
2007	61	54
2006	55	49
2005	58	55
2004	52	49
2003	69	66
2002	48	45
2001	42	40
2000	58	54
1999	36	33
1998	50	46
1997	40	38
1996	45	42
1995	46	45
1994	44	41
1993	34	34
1992	45	38
1991	37	34
1990	48	47
1989	43	41
1988	50	44
1987	40	39
1986	51	44
1985	58	55
1984	46	45
1983	32	29
1982	44	43
1981	43	40
1980	38	36
1979	40	34
1978	37	36
1977	44	40
1976	26	24
1975	35	31

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.Sarasota County beside Florida and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Sarasota County	Florida	United States
2024	11.8	13.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	13.1	15.1	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. Sarasota County had 475,989 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Sarasota County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Florida
A driver recorded as drinkingof 534 fatal crashes	140	534 fatal crashes	26.2%	20.7%
A speeding-related driverof 534 fatal crashes	50	534 fatal crashes	9.4%	9.8%
No restraint usedof 276 occupant deaths with restraint use known	108	276 occupant deathswith restraint use known	39.1%	45.3%
Pedestriansof 577 deaths	115	577 deaths	19.9%	21.7%
Bicyclistsof 577 deaths	54	577 deaths	9.4%	5.4%
Motorcyclistsof 577 deaths	122	577 deaths	21.1%	19.0%
On a rural roadof 525 fatal crashes with the condition reported	92	525 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	17.5%	23.6%
In the darkof 533 fatal crashes with the condition reported	282	533 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	52.9%	55.3%

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.Sarasota 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	28	14	13	29	84
Monday	11	21	24	23	79
Tuesday	12	16	18	24	70
Wednesday	13	9	18	26	66
Thursday	8	12	22	27	69
Friday	10	22	17	42	91
Saturday	17	6	18	34	75
All days	99	100	130	205	534

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.Sarasota County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Florida
Interstate	73	13.9%	9.5%
Other freeways and expressways	3	0.6%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	203	38.6%	40.4%
Minor arterial	90	17.1%	19.0%
Major collector	77	14.6%	11.8%
Minor collector	7	1.3%	3.1%
Local	73	13.9%	12.9%
Not reported	8	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.Sarasota County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	228
Dark, not lighted	102
Dark, lighted	179
Dawn	7
Dusk	16
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Sarasota County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	413
Cloudy	93
Rain	21
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	7
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Sarasota County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Sarasota	In all of Florida
Interstate 75	Interstate	74	765
Interstate 95	Interstate	1 or 2	1,028
State Route 45	State highway	6	25
State Route 72	State highway	33	36
State Route 758	State highway	24	24
State Route 776	State highway	14	43
US Route 1	US highway	1 or 2	1,222
US Route 41	US highway	132	923
US Route 301	US highway	16	397

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 Florida

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Sarasota County on the county map of Florida

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

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.918 counties
20 to 29.912 counties
30 or more19 counties
Sarasota County: 13.1

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 Florida

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Sarasota County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Charlotte County	Florida	29	285	14.9
DeSoto County	Florida	8	134	37.1
Manatee County	Florida	61	649	15.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Florida have a population nearest to that of Sarasota 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.
Florida State Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Florida.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Sarasota County, Florida: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/fl/sarasota/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/fl/sarasota/" title="Fatal crashes in Sarasota County, Florida" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/fl/sarasota/">Fatal crashes in Sarasota County, Florida</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Sarasota in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 443 deaths in Sarasota County from 2005 to 2014. It records 577 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Sarasota in 2024?

The rate of Sarasota County in 2024 was 11.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Florida was 13.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 140 of 534 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 Sarasota?

9 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 301 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.