Ottawa County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Michigan by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 17 deaths in 16 fatal crashes in Ottawa County in 2024.

FARS records 210 deaths in 197 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 7.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Michigan in the same years is 10.6.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Ottawa County was number 10 of 83 counties of Michigan.

Deaths in Ottawa County rose by 1.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (208) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (210).

In the counties of Michigan the deaths rose by 8.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 27.4% of the occupants killed in Ottawa County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 39.4% in Michigan.

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 Ottawa 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.Ottawa County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	17	16	1 or 2
2023	17	17	3
2022	23	21	6
2021	29	27	6
2020	15	14	1 or 2
2019	20	20	7
2018	26	23	8
2017	17	17	6
2016	27	24	5
2015	19	18	4
2015 to 2024	210	197	49

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 41 (2000)2024: 17

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

Table 2.Ottawa County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	17	16
2023	17	17
2022	23	21
2021	29	27
2020	15	14
2019	20	20
2018	26	23
2017	17	17
2016	27	24
2015	19	18
2014	24	21
2013	17	17
2012	18	16
2011	14	11
2010	17	16
2009	17	16
2008	23	23
2007	20	18
2006	28	26
2005	30	29
2004	22	19
2003	32	29
2002	27	26
2001	33	32
2000	41	37
1999	34	27
1998	31	31
1997	27	25
1996	29	28
1995	37	29
1994	30	29
1993	28	27
1992	29	29
1991	28	27
1990	31	26
1989	33	30
1988	38	32
1987	34	24
1986	37	36
1985	22	20
1984	29	26
1983	20	19
1982	15	13
1981	23	21
1980	27	25
1979	35	33
1978	28	21
1977	28	26
1976	19	18
1975	21	19

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.Ottawa County beside Michigan and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Ottawa County	Michigan	United States
2024	5.6	10.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	7.1	10.6	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. Ottawa County had 306,190 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Ottawa County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Michigan
A driver recorded as drinkingof 197 fatal crashes	49	197 fatal crashes	24.9%	28.1%
A speeding-related driverof 197 fatal crashes	38	197 fatal crashes	19.3%	25.4%
No restraint usedof 135 occupant deaths with restraint use known	37	135 occupant deathswith restraint use known	27.4%	39.4%
Pedestriansof 210 deaths	17	210 deaths	8.1%	15.2%
Bicyclistsof 210 deaths	7	210 deaths	3.3%	2.8%
Motorcyclistsof 210 deaths	24	210 deaths	11.4%	15.2%
On a rural roadof 196 fatal crashes with the condition reported	66	196 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	33.7%	40.6%
In the darkof 197 fatal crashes with the condition reported	68	197 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.5%	46.3%

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.Ottawa 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	12	4	9	5	30
Monday	1 or 2	5	13	3	22
Tuesday	5	3	9	6	23
Wednesday	1 or 2	11	9	6	27
Thursday	3	10	11	4	28
Friday	4	9	11	11	35
Saturday	1 or 2	4	16	9	31
All days	28	46	78	44	196

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.Ottawa County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Michigan
Interstate	17	8.6%	9.0%
Other freeways and expressways	7	3.6%	4.0%
Other principal arterial	40	20.3%	27.7%
Minor arterial	59	29.9%	26.1%
Major collector	39	19.8%	18.4%
Minor collector	3	1.5%	1.7%
Local	32	16.2%	13.2%
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.Ottawa County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	116
Dark, not lighted	48
Dark, lighted	20
Dawn	8
Dusk	5
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Ottawa County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	123
Cloudy	46
Rain	11
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	11
Fog, smog or smoke	4
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Ottawa County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Ottawa	In all of Michigan
Interstate 96	Interstate	12	173
Interstate 196	Interstate	7	28
State Route 11	State highway	1 or 2	52
State Route 21	State highway	1 or 2	40
US Route 31	US highway	21	136

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 Michigan

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Ottawa County on the county map of Michigan

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

Fewer than 1012 counties
10 to 14.943 counties
15 to 19.919 counties
20 to 29.98 counties
30 or more1 county
Ottawa County: 7.1

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 Michigan

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Ottawa County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allegan County	Michigan	21	167	14.1
Kent County	Michigan	63	607	9.3
Muskegon County	Michigan	21	203	11.6
Milwaukee County	Wisconsin	93	861	9.2
Racine County	Wisconsin	14	171	8.7

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Michigan have a population nearest to that of Ottawa 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.
Michigan Office of Highway Safety PlanningThe highway safety office of Michigan.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Ottawa County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/ottawa/. 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 Ottawa in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 208 deaths in Ottawa County from 2005 to 2014. It records 210 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Ottawa in 2024?

The rate of Ottawa County in 2024 was 5.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Michigan was 10.9. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 49 of 197 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 Ottawa?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 42 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.