Howard County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Indiana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Howard County in 2024.

FARS records 126 deaths in 116 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Indiana in the same years is 13.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Howard County was number 18 of 92 counties of Indiana.

Deaths in Howard County rose by 44.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (87) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (126).

In the counties of Indiana the deaths rose by 8.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, a speeding-related driver was recorded in 12.1% of fatal crashes in Howard County and 25.7% in Indiana.

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 Howard 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.Howard County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	7	1 or 2
2023	15	13	5
2022	8	8	1 or 2
2021	12	12	4
2020	10	10	1 or 2
2019	13	13	4
2018	19	16	5
2017	12	11	5
2016	17	14	4
2015	13	12	3
2015 to 2024	126	116	34

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 32 (1980)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Howard County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	15	13
2022	8	8
2021	12	12
2020	10	10
2019	13	13
2018	19	16
2017	12	11
2016	17	14
2015	13	12
2014	10	10
2013	8	8
2012	5	5
2011	9	7
2010	6	6
2009	7	7
2008	10	9
2007	11	9
2006	13	12
2005	8	7
2004	11	8
2003	12	8
2002	11	9
2001	20	18
2000	8	8
1999	13	11
1998	11	11
1997	13	12
1996	5	5
1995	9	8
1994	14	11
1993	5	5
1992	16	16
1991	17	13
1990	5	5
1989	17	16
1988	14	12
1987	7	7
1986	22	15
1985	9	8
1984	16	14
1983	22	17
1982	8	6
1981	9	7
1980	32	28
1979	14	12
1978	20	18
1977	19	17
1976	11	11
1975	8	8

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.Howard County beside Indiana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Howard County	Indiana	United States
2024	8.3	12.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.2	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. Howard County had 84,018 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Howard County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Indiana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 116 fatal crashes	34	116 fatal crashes	29.3%	19.6%
A speeding-related driverof 116 fatal crashes	14	116 fatal crashes	12.1%	25.7%
No restraint usedof 81 occupant deaths with restraint use known	40	81 occupant deathswith restraint use known	49.4%	45.9%
Pedestriansof 126 deaths	11	126 deaths	8.7%	11.3%
Bicyclistsof 126 deaths	1 or 2	126 deaths	0.8%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 126 deaths	24	126 deaths	19.0%	14.9%
On a rural roadof 115 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	115 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.3%	57.5%
In the darkof 113 fatal crashes with the condition reported	50	113 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	44.2%	44.6%

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.Howard 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	8	0	5	4	17
Monday	3	4	6	5	18
Tuesday	0	5	6	3	14
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	4	4	13
Thursday	4	1 or 2	7	4	17
Friday	1 or 2	3	11	4	20
Saturday	6	1 or 2	6	4	17
All days	24	19	45	28	116

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.Howard County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Indiana
Interstate	0	0.0%	11.1%
Other freeways and expressways	3	2.6%	1.6%
Other principal arterial	40	34.8%	27.4%
Minor arterial	29	25.2%	20.7%
Major collector	16	13.9%	20.2%
Minor collector	4	3.5%	4.0%
Local	23	20.0%	14.9%
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.Howard County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	57
Dark, not lighted	34
Dark, lighted	16
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	3

Table 8.Howard County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	83
Cloudy	21
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Howard County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Howard	In all of Indiana
State Route 19	State highway	1 or 2	33
State Route 26	State highway	6	23
US Route 31	US highway	3	116
US Route 35	US highway	10	56

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 Indiana

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Howard County on the county map of Indiana

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

Fewer than 107 counties
10 to 14.926 counties
15 to 19.934 counties
20 to 29.923 counties
30 or more2 counties
Howard County: 15.2

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 Indiana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Howard County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Carroll County	Indiana	1 or 2	36	17.7
Cass County	Indiana	3	62	16.4
Clinton County	Indiana	6	67	20.5
Grant County	Indiana	10	107	16.1
Miami County	Indiana	3	61	17.3
Tipton County	Indiana	1 or 2	37	24.3

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Indiana have a population nearest to that of Howard 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.
Indiana Criminal Justice InstituteThe highway safety office of Indiana.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Howard County, Indiana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/in/howard/. 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 Howard in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 87 deaths in Howard County from 2005 to 2014. It records 126 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Howard in 2024?

The rate of Howard County in 2024 was 8.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Indiana was 12.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 34 of 116 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 Howard?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 21 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.