Pulaski County, Kentucky: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Kentucky by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 18 deaths in 18 fatal crashes in Pulaski County in 2024.

FARS records 136 deaths in 127 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 20.9 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, Pulaski County was number 6 of 120 counties of Kentucky.

Deaths in Pulaski County rose by 11.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (122) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (136).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 33.9% of the fatal crashes in Pulaski County with known light were in the dark, against 40.5% 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 Pulaski 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.Pulaski County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	18	18	4
2023	17	16	4
2022	9	8	1 or 2
2021	12	11	4
2020	13	12	1 or 2
2019	16	13	3
2018	12	11	5
2017	9	9	3
2016	16	16	3
2015	14	13	4
2015 to 2024	136	127	33

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (2002)2024: 18

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

Table 2.Pulaski County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	18	18
2023	17	16
2022	9	8
2021	12	11
2020	13	12
2019	16	13
2018	12	11
2017	9	9
2016	16	16
2015	14	13
2014	11	10
2013	7	7
2012	8	8
2011	13	12
2010	9	9
2009	13	13
2008	15	14
2007	15	14
2006	15	12
2005	16	15
2004	21	18
2003	23	20
2002	27	24
2001	15	14
2000	16	14
1999	16	14
1998	14	12
1997	12	11
1996	10	9
1995	16	14
1994	9	9
1993	8	8
1992	12	11
1991	18	16
1990	8	8
1989	12	10
1988	14	12
1987	9	9
1986	15	12
1985	17	14
1984	9	9
1983	15	14
1982	7	7
1981	7	5
1980	14	12
1979	15	15
1978	16	13
1977	7	5
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.Pulaski County beside Kentucky and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Pulaski County	Kentucky	United States
2024	26.9	15.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	20.9	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. Pulaski County had 66,959 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Pulaski County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Kentucky
A driver recorded as drinkingof 127 fatal crashes	33	127 fatal crashes	26.0%	25.3%
A speeding-related driverof 127 fatal crashes	17	127 fatal crashes	13.4%	16.2%
No restraint usedof 103 occupant deaths with restraint use known	50	103 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.5%	52.5%
Pedestriansof 136 deaths	13	136 deaths	9.6%	11.1%
Bicyclistsof 136 deaths	1 or 2	136 deaths	0.7%	1.2%
Motorcyclistsof 136 deaths	18	136 deaths	13.2%	13.1%
On a rural roadof 126 fatal crashes with the condition reported	85	126 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	67.5%	66.4%
In the darkof 127 fatal crashes with the condition reported	43	127 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.9%	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.Pulaski 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	4	1 or 2	6	6	18
Monday	1 or 2	5	5	6	17
Tuesday	0	3	6	7	16
Wednesday	0	3	8	4	15
Thursday	1 or 2	3	9	7	20
Friday	0	6	8	10	24
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	6	17
All days	7	24	50	46	127

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.Pulaski 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	1 or 2	1.6%	2.2%
Other principal arterial	61	48.4%	22.3%
Minor arterial	8	6.3%	20.4%
Major collector	18	14.3%	18.9%
Minor collector	15	11.9%	10.5%
Local	22	17.5%	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.Pulaski County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	73
Dark, not lighted	35
Dark, lighted	7
Dawn	5
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Pulaski County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	97
Cloudy	16
Rain	12
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
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 Pulaski County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Pulaski	In all of Kentucky
State Route 70	State highway	1 or 2	47
State Route 80	State highway	16	66
State Route 90	State highway	3	42
State Route 9008	State highway	4	21
US Route 27	US highway	33	173

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.Pulaski 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
Pulaski County: 20.9

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 Pulaski County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Casey County	Kentucky	3	31	19.5
Laurel County	Kentucky	18	132	21.4
Lincoln County	Kentucky	8	60	24.5
McCreary County	Kentucky	1 or 2	46	26.7
Rockcastle County	Kentucky	6	57	34.6
Russell County	Kentucky	1 or 2	32	17.8
Wayne County	Kentucky	4	48	23.9

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

FARS records 122 deaths in Pulaski County from 2005 to 2014. It records 136 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Pulaski in 2024?

The rate of Pulaski County in 2024 was 26.9 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 Pulaski had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 33 of 127 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 Pulaski?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 58 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.