Barren County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

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

FARS records 95 deaths in 89 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 21.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Kentucky in the same years is 17.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Barren County was number 17 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Barren County fell by 17.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (115) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (95).

In the counties of Kentucky the deaths fell by 2.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 86.4% of the fatal crashes in Barren County with a known setting were rural, against 66.4% in Kentucky.

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 Barren 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.Barren 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	12	10	4
2022	14	12	1 or 2
2021	9	9	1 or 2
2020	9	9	1 or 2
2019	7	7	1 or 2
2018	8	7	1 or 2
2017	9	9	1 or 2
2016	9	9	1 or 2
2015	11	10	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	95	89	18

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 20 (1995)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Barren County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	12	10
2022	14	12
2021	9	9
2020	9	9
2019	7	7
2018	8	7
2017	9	9
2016	9	9
2015	11	10
2014	9	9
2013	11	10
2012	9	8
2011	15	14
2010	15	15
2009	17	14
2008	11	11
2007	8	7
2006	6	6
2005	14	12
2004	12	7
2003	11	11
2002	6	6
2001	10	8
2000	6	6
1999	5	4
1998	5	5
1997	10	9
1996	11	7
1995	20	14
1994	15	12
1993	7	7
1992	16	11
1991	5	5
1990	10	9
1989	7	6
1988	10	9
1987	6	6
1986	18	15
1985	10	8
1984	7	6
1983	5	4
1982	5	3
1981	13	11
1980	10	9
1979	6	6
1978	13	12
1977	14	11
1976	15	12
1975	9	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.Barren County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Barren County	Kentucky	United States
2024	15.4	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	21.4	17.1	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. Barren County had 45,412 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Barren County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 89 fatal crashes	18	89 fatal crashes	20.2%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 89 fatal crashes	11	89 fatal crashes	12.4%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 79 occupant deaths with restraint use known	41	79 occupant deathswith restraint use known	51.9%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 95 deaths	5	95 deaths	5.3%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 95 deaths	0	95 deaths	0.0%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 95 deaths	10	95 deaths	10.5%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	76	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	86.4%	66.4%
In the darkof 89 fatal crashes with the condition reported	20	89 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	22.5%	40.5%

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.Barren 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	3	4	3	12
Monday	0	3	8	1 or 2	12
Tuesday	1 or 2	6	3	3	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	7	1 or 2	11
Thursday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	7
Friday	0	6	10	4	20
Saturday	3	3	4	4	14
All days	7	25	39	18	89

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.Barren County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	4	4.5%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	4	4.5%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	5	5.7%	22.3%
Minor arterial	27	30.7%	20.4%
Major collector	21	23.9%	18.9%
Minor collector	15	17.0%	10.5%
Local	12	13.6%	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.Barren County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	66
Dark, not lighted	17
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Barren County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	65
Cloudy	12
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Barren County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Barren	In all of Kentucky
Interstate 65	Interstate	4	166
State Route 9	State highway	1 or 2	48
State Route 70	State highway	7	47
State Route 90	State highway	8	42
State Route 9008	State highway	8	21
US Route 31	US highway	6	108
US Route 31E	US highway	10	76
US Route 31W	US highway	1 or 2	129
US Route 68	US highway	12	165

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 Kentucky

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Barren County on the county map of Kentucky

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

Fewer than 106 counties
10 to 14.919 counties
15 to 19.922 counties
20 to 29.957 counties
30 or more16 counties
Barren County: 21.4

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 Kentucky

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Barren County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allen County	Kentucky	3	53	25.1
Edmonson County	Kentucky	3	24	19.6
Hart County	Kentucky	1 or 2	55	28.7
Metcalfe County	Kentucky	0	20	19.6
Monroe County	Kentucky	1 or 2	12	11.0
Warren County	Kentucky	21	178	13.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Kentucky have a population nearest to that of Barren 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.
Kentucky Office of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Kentucky.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Barren County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ky/barren/. 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 Barren in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 115 deaths in Barren County from 2005 to 2014. It records 95 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Barren in 2024?

The rate of Barren County in 2024 was 15.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Kentucky was 15.4. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 18 of 89 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 Barren?

9 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 57 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.