Penobscot County, Maine: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Maine by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 24 deaths in 21 fatal crashes in Penobscot County in 2024.

FARS records 187 deaths in 172 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.2 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Maine in the same years is 11.7.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Penobscot County was number 3 of 16 counties of Maine.

Deaths in Penobscot County rose by 12.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (166) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (187).

In the counties of Maine the deaths rose by 0.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 57.6% of the occupants killed in Penobscot County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 52.4% in Maine.

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 Penobscot 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.Penobscot County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	24	21	8
2023	19	17	8
2022	22	19	6
2021	11	10	5
2020	19	18	10
2019	26	23	8
2018	11	11	3
2017	17	17	1 or 2
2016	22	20	8
2015	16	16	9
2015 to 2024	187	172	66

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 40 (1980)2024: 24

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

Table 2.Penobscot County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	24	21
2023	19	17
2022	22	19
2021	11	10
2020	19	18
2019	26	23
2018	11	11
2017	17	17
2016	22	20
2015	16	16
2014	21	19
2013	16	15
2012	20	18
2011	18	16
2010	13	11
2009	12	11
2008	17	16
2007	18	17
2006	14	14
2005	17	14
2004	26	19
2003	21	21
2002	28	26
2001	17	14
2000	13	12
1999	18	17
1998	24	21
1997	22	19
1996	19	17
1995	16	13
1994	13	13
1993	19	17
1992	21	20
1991	29	26
1990	22	17
1989	27	24
1988	22	22
1987	25	24
1986	28	23
1985	30	26
1984	27	25
1983	20	17
1982	17	16
1981	21	21
1980	40	35
1979	33	29
1978	25	19
1977	29	27
1976	37	32
1975	21	20

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.Penobscot County beside Maine and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Penobscot County	Maine	United States
2024	15.3	12.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.2	11.7	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. Penobscot County had 157,283 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Penobscot County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Maine
A driver recorded as drinkingof 172 fatal crashes	66	172 fatal crashes	38.4%	36.9%
A speeding-related driverof 172 fatal crashes	45	172 fatal crashes	26.2%	28.0%
No restraint usedof 139 occupant deaths with restraint use known	80	139 occupant deathswith restraint use known	57.6%	52.4%
Pedestriansof 187 deaths	20	187 deaths	10.7%	10.0%
Bicyclistsof 187 deaths	0	187 deaths	0.0%	1.1%
Motorcyclistsof 187 deaths	28	187 deaths	15.0%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 169 fatal crashes with the condition reported	131	169 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	77.5%	81.0%
In the darkof 171 fatal crashes with the condition reported	67	171 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	39.2%	38.5%

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.Penobscot 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	8	1 or 2	5	17
Monday	1 or 2	6	11	6	24
Tuesday	3	1 or 2	7	8	20
Wednesday	3	7	8	1 or 2	20
Thursday	3	6	8	5	22
Friday	3	4	10	9	26
Saturday	9	8	12	14	43
All days	24	41	58	49	172

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.Penobscot County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Maine
Interstate	28	16.6%	7.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.6%
Other principal arterial	18	10.7%	20.5%
Minor arterial	31	18.3%	18.3%
Major collector	45	26.6%	26.1%
Minor collector	12	7.1%	7.6%
Local	35	20.7%	19.9%
Not reported	3	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.Penobscot County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	91
Dark, not lighted	52
Dark, lighted	15
Dawn	5
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Penobscot County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	125
Cloudy	24
Rain	13
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	8
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Penobscot County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Penobscot	In all of Maine
Interstate 95	Interstate	33	98
State Route 9	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 11	State highway	6	31
State Route 15	State highway	9	23
US Route 1A	US highway	5	22
US Route 2	US highway	14	39
US Route 202	US highway	4	37

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 Maine

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Penobscot County on the county map of Maine

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.97 counties
15 to 19.97 counties
20 to 29.90 counties
30 or more0 counties
Penobscot County: 12.2

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 Maine

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Penobscot County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Aroostook County	Maine	10	85	12.6
Hancock County	Maine	6	108	19.4
Piscataquis County	Maine	1 or 2	28	16.4
Somerset County	Maine	15	97	19.1
Waldo County	Maine	5	68	17.1
Washington County	Maine	4	58	18.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Maine have a population nearest to that of Penobscot 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.
Maine Bureau of Highway SafetyThe highway safety office of Maine.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Penobscot County, Maine: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/me/penobscot/. 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 Penobscot in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 166 deaths in Penobscot County from 2005 to 2014. It records 187 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Penobscot in 2024?

The rate of Penobscot County in 2024 was 15.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Maine was 12.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 66 of 172 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 Penobscot?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 73 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.