Columbia County, Georgia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Georgia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 5 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Columbia County in 2024.

FARS records 116 deaths in 109 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Georgia in the same years is 14.8.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Columbia County was number 34 of 159 counties of Georgia.

Deaths in Columbia County rose by 9.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (106) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (116).

In the counties of Georgia the deaths rose by 14.0% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 33.9% of the fatal crashes in Columbia County with known light were in the dark, against 49.5% in Georgia.

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 Columbia 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.Columbia County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	5	5	0
2023	5	5	0
2022	11	11	0
2021	8	7	1 or 2
2020	11	10	1 or 2
2019	11	10	1 or 2
2018	12	11	1 or 2
2017	21	20	3
2016	17	16	6
2015	15	14	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	116	109	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 21 (2017)2024: 5

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

Table 2.Columbia County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	5	5
2023	5	5
2022	11	11
2021	8	7
2020	11	10
2019	11	10
2018	12	11
2017	21	20
2016	17	16
2015	15	14
2014	7	6
2013	10	9
2012	8	8
2011	11	11
2010	12	11
2009	6	6
2008	13	13
2007	11	10
2006	16	14
2005	12	12
2004	7	7
2003	15	11
2002	11	11
2001	13	11
2000	9	8
1999	10	9
1998	11	7
1997	9	9
1996	12	10
1995	12	9
1994	9	9
1993	8	8
1992	10	10
1991	5	5
1990	8	6
1989	8	8
1988	17	12
1987	16	13
1986	20	16
1985	14	10
1984	11	9
1983	8	6
1982	6	6
1981	11	10
1980	8	6
1979	1 or 2	1 or 2
1978	11	9
1977	12	12
1976	11	11
1975	12	9

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.Columbia County beside Georgia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Columbia County	Georgia	United States
2024	3.0	12.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.4	14.8	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. Columbia County had 167,263 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Columbia County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Georgia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 109 fatal crashes	17	109 fatal crashes	15.6%	19.6%
A speeding-related driverof 109 fatal crashes	31	109 fatal crashes	28.4%	19.4%
No restraint usedof 84 occupant deaths with restraint use known	45	84 occupant deathswith restraint use known	53.6%	49.9%
Pedestriansof 116 deaths	8	116 deaths	6.9%	17.1%
Bicyclistsof 116 deaths	1 or 2	116 deaths	1.7%	1.5%
Motorcyclistsof 116 deaths	16	116 deaths	13.8%	11.2%
On a rural roadof 109 fatal crashes with the condition reported	33	109 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	30.3%	36.0%
In the darkof 109 fatal crashes with the condition reported	37	109 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.9%	49.5%

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.Columbia 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	6	13
Monday	1 or 2	3	6	1 or 2	11
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	5	5	15
Wednesday	0	6	6	1 or 2	14
Thursday	4	7	7	5	23
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	3	15
Saturday	3	6	3	6	18
All days	13	28	40	28	109

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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Georgia
Interstate	21	19.3%	13.3%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.9%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	17	15.6%	25.9%
Minor arterial	33	30.3%	27.3%
Major collector	11	10.1%	13.3%
Minor collector	5	4.6%	4.8%
Local	21	19.3%	13.2%
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.Columbia County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	67
Dark, not lighted	34
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Columbia County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	83
Cloudy	16
Rain	8
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Columbia County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Columbia	In all of Georgia
Interstate 20	Interstate	21	391
State Route 10	State highway	1 or 2	93
State Route 47	State highway	7	20
US Route 278	US highway	1 or 2	80

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 Georgia

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Columbia County on the county map of Georgia

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

Fewer than 107 counties
10 to 14.924 counties
15 to 19.934 counties
20 to 29.955 counties
30 or more38 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown1 county
Columbia County: 7.4

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 Georgia

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Columbia County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Lincoln County	Georgia	1 or 2	21	26.7
McDuffie County	Georgia	6	55	25.5
Richmond County	Georgia	43	328	16.1
Edgefield County	South Carolina	6	52	19.1
McCormick County	South Carolina	4	32	33.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Georgia have a population nearest to that of Columbia 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.
Georgia Governor's Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Georgia.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Columbia County, Georgia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ga/columbia/. 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 Columbia in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 106 deaths in Columbia County from 2005 to 2014. It records 116 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Columbia in 2024?

The rate of Columbia County in 2024 was 3.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Georgia was 12.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 of 109 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 Columbia?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 31 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.