Van Buren County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Michigan by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 11 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in Van Buren County in 2024.

FARS records 146 deaths in 131 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.3 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, Van Buren County was number 21 of 83 counties of Michigan.

Deaths in Van Buren County rose by 2.1% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (143) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (146).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 74.8% of the fatal crashes in Van Buren County with a known setting were rural, against 40.6% 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 Van Buren 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.Van Buren County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	11	11	6
2023	12	11	4
2022	10	10	1 or 2
2021	17	16	6
2020	15	13	5
2019	19	17	5
2018	12	10	7
2017	17	16	4
2016	15	12	1 or 2
2015	18	15	4
2015 to 2024	146	131	45

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 28 (1993)2024: 11

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

Table 2.Van Buren County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	11	11
2023	12	11
2022	10	10
2021	17	16
2020	15	13
2019	19	17
2018	12	10
2017	17	16
2016	15	12
2015	18	15
2014	9	8
2013	20	17
2012	15	12
2011	10	10
2010	10	10
2009	11	10
2008	14	14
2007	24	23
2006	11	11
2005	19	15
2004	16	14
2003	15	14
2002	10	10
2001	24	21
2000	21	17
1999	20	17
1998	17	16
1997	17	17
1996	20	19
1995	20	14
1994	15	14
1993	28	22
1992	17	15
1991	16	14
1990	25	18
1989	21	19
1988	22	20
1987	25	23
1986	18	17
1985	16	14
1984	17	17
1983	12	12
1982	16	14
1981	18	15
1980	15	14
1979	26	23
1978	20	20
1977	27	20
1976	25	19
1975	16	13

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.Van Buren County beside Michigan and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Van Buren County	Michigan	United States
2024	14.5	10.9	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.3	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. Van Buren County had 76,100 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Van Buren County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Michigan
A driver recorded as drinkingof 131 fatal crashes	45	131 fatal crashes	34.4%	28.1%
A speeding-related driverof 131 fatal crashes	46	131 fatal crashes	35.1%	25.4%
No restraint usedof 93 occupant deaths with restraint use known	35	93 occupant deathswith restraint use known	37.6%	39.4%
Pedestriansof 146 deaths	17	146 deaths	11.6%	15.2%
Bicyclistsof 146 deaths	1 or 2	146 deaths	1.4%	2.8%
Motorcyclistsof 146 deaths	17	146 deaths	11.6%	15.2%
On a rural roadof 131 fatal crashes with the condition reported	98	131 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	74.8%	40.6%
In the darkof 129 fatal crashes with the condition reported	51	129 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	39.5%	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.Van Buren 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	9	4	7	4	24
Monday	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	7	16
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	3	6	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	7	6	4	19
Thursday	5	4	7	3	19
Friday	1 or 2	3	6	10	21
Saturday	5	1 or 2	7	9	22
All days	25	25	38	43	131

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.Van Buren County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Michigan
Interstate	19	14.5%	9.0%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	4.0%
Other principal arterial	1 or 2	0.8%	27.7%
Minor arterial	38	29.0%	26.1%
Major collector	33	25.2%	18.4%
Minor collector	5	3.8%	1.7%
Local	35	26.7%	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.Van Buren County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	69
Dark, not lighted	47
Dark, lighted	4
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	7
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Van Buren County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	80
Cloudy	29
Rain	7
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	11
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Van Buren County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Van Buren	In all of Michigan
Interstate 94	Interstate	16	288
Interstate 196	Interstate	3	28
State Route 40	State highway	8	24
State Route 43	State highway	11	73
State Route 51	State highway	3	20

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.Van Buren 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
Van Buren County: 19.3

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 Van Buren County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Lake County	Illinois	50	472	6.7
Allegan County	Michigan	21	167	14.1
Berrien County	Michigan	17	191	12.4
Cass County	Michigan	8	115	22.3
Kalamazoo County	Michigan	25	310	11.8

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 Van Buren 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. Van Buren County, Michigan: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/van-buren/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/mi/van-buren/" title="Fatal crashes in Van Buren County, Michigan" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/mi/van-buren/">Fatal crashes in Van Buren County, Michigan</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Van Buren in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 143 deaths in Van Buren County from 2005 to 2014. It records 146 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Van Buren in 2024?

The rate of Van Buren County in 2024 was 14.5 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 Van Buren had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 45 of 131 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 Van Buren?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 41 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.