Charles County, Maryland: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Maryland by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 37 deaths in 32 fatal crashes in Charles County in 2024.

FARS records 246 deaths in 221 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Maryland in the same years is 9.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Charles County was number 6 of 24 counties of Maryland.

Deaths in Charles County rose by 23.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (199) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (246).

In the counties of Maryland the deaths rose by 2.4% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 29.5% of the fatal crashes in Charles County with a known setting were rural, against 18.6% in Maryland.

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 Charles 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.Charles County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	37	32	9
2023	21	20	4
2022	25	23	9
2021	18	17	5
2020	26	25	8
2019	19	18	10
2018	21	18	5
2017	35	28	7
2016	29	26	8
2015	15	14	5
2015 to 2024	246	221	70

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 40 (2005)2024: 37

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

Table 2.Charles County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	37	32
2023	21	20
2022	25	23
2021	18	17
2020	26	25
2019	19	18
2018	21	18
2017	35	28
2016	29	26
2015	15	14
2014	8	7
2013	16	14
2012	15	14
2011	21	20
2010	18	17
2009	15	15
2008	13	13
2007	23	19
2006	30	27
2005	40	34
2004	16	15
2003	20	19
2002	27	25
2001	21	18
2000	30	27
1999	24	24
1998	25	24
1997	28	27
1996	20	18
1995	30	24
1994	23	21
1993	27	22
1992	26	22
1991	25	17
1990	27	27
1989	36	34
1988	30	30
1987	31	27
1986	24	20
1985	33	31
1984	25	21
1983	22	21
1982	25	20
1981	27	24
1980	29	25
1979	16	14
1978	22	19
1977	19	17
1976	29	24
1975	19	16

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.Charles County beside Maryland and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Charles County	Maryland	United States
2024	21.2	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.9	9.1	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. Charles County had 174,499 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Charles County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Maryland
A driver recorded as drinkingof 221 fatal crashes	70	221 fatal crashes	31.7%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 221 fatal crashes	63	221 fatal crashes	28.5%	26.2%
No restraint usedof 137 occupant deaths with restraint use known	49	137 occupant deathswith restraint use known	35.8%	43.4%
Pedestriansof 246 deaths	40	246 deaths	16.3%	23.1%
Bicyclistsof 246 deaths	6	246 deaths	2.4%	2.0%
Motorcyclistsof 246 deaths	46	246 deaths	18.7%	14.5%
On a rural roadof 220 fatal crashes with the condition reported	65	220 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	29.5%	18.6%
In the darkof 219 fatal crashes with the condition reported	121	219 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	55.3%	54.2%

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.Charles 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	11	1 or 2	12	13	38
Monday	3	7	8	6	24
Tuesday	4	3	9	9	25
Wednesday	7	5	10	8	30
Thursday	5	4	3	16	28
Friday	7	8	10	10	35
Saturday	11	5	7	18	41
All days	48	34	59	80	221

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.Charles County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Maryland
Interstate	1 or 2	0.5%	12.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	6.8%
Other principal arterial	88	40.0%	34.3%
Minor arterial	42	19.1%	21.2%
Major collector	57	25.9%	13.2%
Minor collector	10	4.5%	2.4%
Local	22	10.0%	9.0%
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.Charles County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	92
Dark, not lighted	83
Dark, lighted	34
Dawn	0
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	4
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Charles County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	170
Cloudy	26
Rain	16
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	7

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Charles County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Charles	In all of Maryland
State Route 5	State highway	23	108
State Route 6	State highway	22	25
State Route 210	State highway	1 or 2	44
US Route 1	US highway	1 or 2	146
US Route 301	US highway	50	128

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 Maryland

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Charles County on the county map of Maryland

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

Fewer than 108 counties
10 to 14.910 counties
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.94 counties
30 or more0 counties
Charles County: 14.9

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 Maryland

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Charles County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Calvert County	Maryland	14	97	10.4
Prince George's County	Maryland	101	1,090	11.7
St. Mary's County	Maryland	13	141	12.4
Fairfax County	Virginia	57	447	3.9
King George County	Virginia	3	52	19.2
Prince William County	Virginia	30	238	5.0
Stafford County	Virginia	10	108	7.0
Westmoreland County	Virginia	1 or 2	30	16.4

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Maryland have a population nearest to that of Charles 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.
Maryland Highway Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Maryland.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Charles County, Maryland: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/md/charles/. 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 Charles in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 199 deaths in Charles County from 2005 to 2014. It records 246 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Charles in 2024?

The rate of Charles County in 2024 was 21.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Maryland was 9.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 70 of 221 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 Charles?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 97 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.