Kauai County, Hawaii: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Hawaii by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Kauai County in 2024.

FARS records 62 deaths in 56 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Hawaii in the same years is 7.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Kauai County was number 4 of 4 counties of Hawaii.

Deaths in Kauai County fell by 31.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (91) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (62).

In the counties of Hawaii the deaths fell by 13.0% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 35.5% of the occupants killed in Kauai County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 51.8% in Hawaii.

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 Kauai 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.Kauai County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	3
2023	3	3	1 or 2
2022	9	9	3
2021	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2020	7	7	5
2019	10	8	3
2018	6	5	1 or 2
2017	6	3	1 or 2
2016	8	8	4
2015	3	3	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	62	56	25

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (1980)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Kauai County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	3	3
2022	9	9
2021	1 or 2	1 or 2
2020	7	7
2019	10	8
2018	6	5
2017	6	3
2016	8	8
2015	3	3
2014	8	7
2013	7	7
2012	8	7
2011	6	6
2010	10	9
2009	8	7
2008	11	9
2007	9	9
2006	14	10
2005	10	9
2004	10	9
2003	5	5
2002	4	4
2001	4	4
2000	5	4
1999	8	7
1998	3	3
1997	14	11
1996	7	7
1995	3	3
1994	12	9
1993	9	6
1992	10	10
1991	11	10
1990	9	9
1989	8	6
1988	11	11
1987	12	11
1986	11	11
1985	8	8
1984	10	9
1983	8	7
1982	7	7
1981	12	10
1980	17	15
1979	15	11
1978	15	12
1977	9	8
1976	7	6
1975	9	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.Kauai County beside Hawaii and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Kauai County	Hawaii	United States
2024	10.9	7.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.5	7.2	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. Kauai County had 73,440 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Kauai County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Hawaii
A driver recorded as drinkingof 56 fatal crashes	25	56 fatal crashes	44.6%	32.1%
A speeding-related driverof 56 fatal crashes	19	56 fatal crashes	33.9%	44.1%
No restraint usedof 31 occupant deaths with restraint use known	11	31 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.5%	51.8%
Pedestriansof 62 deaths	13	62 deaths	21.0%	26.8%
Bicyclistsof 62 deaths	1 or 2	62 deaths	3.2%	4.3%
Motorcyclistsof 62 deaths	12	62 deaths	19.4%	25.7%
On a rural roadof 56 fatal crashes with the condition reported	18	56 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.1%	17.4%
In the darkof 56 fatal crashes with the condition reported	31	56 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.4%	57.3%

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.Kauai 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	0	1 or 2	4	6
Monday	0	0	4	5	9
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	4
Wednesday	4	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Thursday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	4
Friday	3	1 or 2	4	5	14
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	11
All days	9	5	16	25	55

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.Kauai County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Hawaii
Interstate	0	0.0%	7.1%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.6%
Other principal arterial	36	64.3%	55.3%
Minor arterial	14	25.0%	32.1%
Major collector	1 or 2	1.8%	1.7%
Minor collector	4	7.1%	1.1%
Local	1 or 2	1.8%	2.1%
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.Kauai County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	23
Dark, not lighted	19
Dark, lighted	9
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Kauai County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	23
Cloudy	21
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Kauai County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Kauai	In all of Hawaii
State Route 56	State highway	20	21

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 Hawaii

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Kauai County on the county map of Hawaii

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.92 counties
15 to 19.90 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Kauai County: 8.5

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 Hawaii

Counties of similar population

These counties of Hawaii have a population nearest to that of Kauai 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Kauai County, Hawaii: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/hi/kauai/. 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 Kauai in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 91 deaths in Kauai County from 2005 to 2014. It records 62 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Kauai in 2024?

The rate of Kauai County in 2024 was 10.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Hawaii was 7.1. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 25 of 56 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 Kauai?

FARS records 20 fatal crashes on State Route 56 in the county from 2015 to 2024.