Dorchester County, Maryland: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Maryland by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Dorchester County in 2024.

FARS records 49 deaths in 44 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.1 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, Dorchester County was number 22 of 24 counties of Maryland.

Deaths in Dorchester County did not change between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (49) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (49).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 79.1% of the fatal crashes in Dorchester 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 Dorchester County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Dorchester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	6	1 or 2
2023	6	5	1 or 2
2022	5	4	1 or 2
2021	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2020	4	4	3
2019	6	6	1 or 2
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2017	6	6	1 or 2
2016	5	5	1 or 2
2015	6	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	49	44	12

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 14 (1981)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Dorchester County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	6
2023	6	5
2022	5	4
2021	1 or 2	1 or 2
2020	4	4
2019	6	6
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	6	6
2016	5	5
2015	6	4
2014	5	5
2013	5	5
2012	5	5
2011	5	5
2010	1 or 2	1 or 2
2009	9	9
2008	6	6
2007	3	3
2006	4	4
2005	6	6
2004	7	7
2003	8	8
2002	5	5
2001	12	10
2000	7	6
1999	6	6
1998	7	6
1997	6	5
1996	5	4
1995	7	6
1994	9	6
1993	5	5
1992	5	4
1991	4	4
1990	9	7
1989	7	7
1988	12	11
1987	12	11
1986	12	10
1985	10	7
1984	8	6
1983	10	9
1982	13	10
1981	14	13
1980	8	6
1979	6	6
1978	12	11
1977	7	6
1976	11	11
1975	6	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.Dorchester County beside Maryland and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Dorchester County	Maryland	United States
2024	21.1	9.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.1	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. Dorchester County had 33,208 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Dorchester County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Maryland
A driver recorded as drinkingof 44 fatal crashes	12	44 fatal crashes	27.3%	27.9%
A speeding-related driverof 44 fatal crashes	5	44 fatal crashes	11.4%	26.2%
No restraint usedof 28 occupant deaths with restraint use known	11	28 occupant deathswith restraint use known	39.3%	43.4%
Pedestriansof 49 deaths	5	49 deaths	10.2%	23.1%
Bicyclistsof 49 deaths	0	49 deaths	0.0%	2.0%
Motorcyclistsof 49 deaths	5	49 deaths	10.2%	14.5%
On a rural roadof 43 fatal crashes with the condition reported	34	43 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	79.1%	18.6%
In the darkof 44 fatal crashes with the condition reported	19	44 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.2%	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.Dorchester 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	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	5
Monday	1 or 2	0	3	1 or 2	5
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	3	0	4
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	6
Friday	0	0	5	1 or 2	7
Saturday	0	4	1 or 2	5	11
All days	5	8	19	12	44

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.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Maryland
Interstate	0	0.0%	12.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	6.8%
Other principal arterial	9	20.9%	34.3%
Minor arterial	18	41.9%	21.2%
Major collector	8	18.6%	13.2%
Minor collector	3	7.0%	2.4%
Local	5	11.6%	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.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	21
Dark, not lighted	12
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Dorchester County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	31
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	4
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	6

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Dorchester County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Dorchester	In all of Maryland
State Route 32	State highway	1 or 2	28
State Route 313	State highway	3	23
US Route 50	US highway	9	110

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.Dorchester 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
Dorchester County: 15.1

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 Dorchester County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Sussex County	Delaware	35	389	16.2
Calvert County	Maryland	14	97	10.4
Caroline County	Maryland	10	75	22.5
Somerset County	Maryland	4	37	14.7
St. Mary's County	Maryland	13	141	12.4
Talbot County	Maryland	3	51	13.6
Wicomico County	Maryland	17	129	12.4

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 Dorchester 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. Dorchester County, Maryland: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/md/dorchester/. 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 Dorchester in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 49 deaths in Dorchester County from 2005 to 2014. It records 49 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Dorchester in 2024?

The rate of Dorchester County in 2024 was 21.1 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 Dorchester had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 12 of 44 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 Dorchester?

FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on State Route 32 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 3 fatal crashes on State Route 313 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 9 fatal crashes on US Route 50 in the county from 2015 to 2024.