Nelson County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 10 fatal crashes in Nelson County in 2024.

FARS records 112 deaths in 100 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 24.0 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, Nelson County was number 13 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Nelson County rose by 23.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (91) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (112).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 84.0% of the fatal crashes in Nelson 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 Nelson 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.Nelson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	10	4
2023	14	14	6
2022	6	6	4
2021	8	7	1 or 2
2020	9	9	4
2019	10	8	0
2018	13	13	3
2017	14	9	1 or 2
2016	13	11	3
2015	15	13	3
2015 to 2024	112	100	30

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (1990)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Nelson County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	10
2023	14	14
2022	6	6
2021	8	7
2020	9	9
2019	10	8
2018	13	13
2017	14	9
2016	13	11
2015	15	13
2014	5	5
2013	8	7
2012	10	10
2011	7	7
2010	12	11
2009	9	9
2008	9	7
2007	11	11
2006	11	11
2005	9	9
2004	8	8
2003	7	7
2002	5	5
2001	12	10
2000	5	5
1999	14	12
1998	8	8
1997	15	15
1996	8	7
1995	8	7
1994	7	6
1993	6	5
1992	15	13
1991	4	4
1990	17	15
1989	10	9
1988	8	8
1987	11	11
1986	6	6
1985	10	8
1984	9	8
1983	8	8
1982	16	12
1981	15	11
1980	13	10
1979	7	6
1978	9	8
1977	5	5
1976	7	7
1975	7	6

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.Nelson County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Nelson County	Kentucky	United States
2024	20.6	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	24.0	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. Nelson County had 48,609 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Nelson County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 100 fatal crashes	30	100 fatal crashes	30.0%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 100 fatal crashes	20	100 fatal crashes	20.0%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 97 occupant deaths with restraint use known	45	97 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.4%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 112 deaths	4	112 deaths	3.6%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 112 deaths	0	112 deaths	0.0%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 112 deaths	10	112 deaths	8.9%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 100 fatal crashes with the condition reported	84	100 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	84.0%	66.4%
In the darkof 100 fatal crashes with the condition reported	38	100 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.0%	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.Nelson 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	6	3	4	3	16
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	3	10
Tuesday	3	7	1 or 2	1 or 2	13
Wednesday	0	7	1 or 2	3	12
Thursday	1 or 2	6	5	4	16
Friday	0	3	9	1 or 2	14
Saturday	3	1 or 2	5	9	19
All days	15	30	29	26	100

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.Nelson County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Kentucky
Interstate	0	0.0%	10.8%
Other freeways and expressways	5	5.0%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	16	16.0%	22.3%
Minor arterial	32	32.0%	20.4%
Major collector	21	21.0%	18.9%
Minor collector	20	20.0%	10.5%
Local	6	6.0%	14.9%
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.Nelson County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	62
Dark, not lighted	32
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Nelson County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	67
Cloudy	20
Rain	10
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 Nelson County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Nelson	In all of Kentucky
State Route 52	State highway	3	24
State Route 55	State highway	1 or 2	38
State Route 9002	State highway	20	42
US Route 31	US highway	5	108
US Route 31E	US highway	10	76
US Route 62	US highway	10	114
US Route 150	US highway	7	61

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.Nelson 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
Nelson County: 24.0

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 Nelson County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Anderson County	Kentucky	1 or 2	29	12.4
Bullitt County	Kentucky	10	116	14.1
Hardin County	Kentucky	25	199	18.0
Larue County	Kentucky	4	43	29.3
Marion County	Kentucky	1 or 2	52	26.7
Spencer County	Kentucky	1 or 2	24	12.4
Washington County	Kentucky	3	33	27.3

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 Nelson 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. Nelson County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ky/nelson/. 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 Nelson in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 91 deaths in Nelson County from 2005 to 2014. It records 112 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Nelson in 2024?

The rate of Nelson County in 2024 was 20.6 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 Nelson had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 30 of 100 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 Nelson?

7 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.