Buchanan County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Missouri by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Buchanan County in 2024.

FARS records 106 deaths in 94 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 12.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Missouri in the same years is 15.5.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Buchanan County was number 21 of 115 counties of Missouri.

Deaths in Buchanan County fell by 5.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (112) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (106).

In the counties of Missouri the deaths rose by 4.6% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 26.9% of the fatal crashes in Buchanan County with a known setting were rural, against 52.2% in Missouri.

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 Buchanan 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.Buchanan County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	8	1 or 2
2023	16	14	4
2022	16	14	4
2021	18	14	5
2020	8	8	3
2019	7	7	3
2018	11	10	1 or 2
2017	12	9	1 or 2
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	6	6	3
2015 to 2024	106	94	28

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 26 (2005)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Buchanan County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	8
2023	16	14
2022	16	14
2021	18	14
2020	8	8
2019	7	7
2018	11	10
2017	12	9
2016	4	4
2015	6	6
2014	6	6
2013	12	10
2012	14	12
2011	4	4
2010	5	5
2009	9	9
2008	13	11
2007	9	9
2006	14	11
2005	26	23
2004	9	8
2003	10	9
2002	10	9
2001	12	9
2000	12	11
1999	14	13
1998	16	13
1997	12	11
1996	9	8
1995	11	11
1994	10	7
1993	9	8
1992	17	16
1991	17	14
1990	12	12
1989	14	14
1988	12	11
1987	11	10
1986	11	10
1985	15	12
1984	12	11
1983	9	9
1982	10	10
1981	18	16
1980	20	16
1979	15	13
1978	14	13
1977	22	20
1976	11	11
1975	11	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.Buchanan County beside Missouri and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Buchanan County	Missouri	United States
2024	9.6	15.3	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	12.3	15.5	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. Buchanan County had 83,598 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Buchanan County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Missouri
A driver recorded as drinkingof 94 fatal crashes	28	94 fatal crashes	29.8%	27.5%
A speeding-related driverof 94 fatal crashes	36	94 fatal crashes	38.3%	36.5%
No restraint usedof 59 occupant deaths with restraint use known	34	59 occupant deathswith restraint use known	57.6%	63.5%
Pedestriansof 106 deaths	12	106 deaths	11.3%	11.9%
Bicyclistsof 106 deaths	0	106 deaths	0.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 106 deaths	31	106 deaths	29.2%	14.1%
On a rural roadof 93 fatal crashes with the condition reported	25	93 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	26.9%	52.2%
In the darkof 94 fatal crashes with the condition reported	48	94 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.1%	45.3%

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.Buchanan 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	5	1 or 2	10	1 or 2	18
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	5	13
Tuesday	3	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	5
Wednesday	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	3	11
Thursday	1 or 2	4	1 or 2	3	10
Friday	5	3	4	9	21
Saturday	1 or 2	3	4	3	12
All days	19	18	27	26	90

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.Buchanan County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Missouri
Interstate	11	12.0%	15.3%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	2.2%	7.0%
Other principal arterial	29	31.5%	23.2%
Minor arterial	16	17.4%	20.9%
Major collector	20	21.7%	19.3%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	2.5%
Local	14	15.2%	11.9%
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.Buchanan County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	45
Dark, not lighted	26
Dark, lighted	22
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Buchanan County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	67
Cloudy	20
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	3

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Buchanan County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Buchanan	In all of Missouri
Interstate 29	Interstate	5	56
State Route 6	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route A	State highway	3	48
State Route W	State highway	1 or 2	42
US Route 36	US highway	3	51
US Route 169	US highway	9	43

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 Missouri

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Buchanan County on the county map of Missouri

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

Fewer than 104 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.926 counties
20 to 29.950 counties
30 or more18 counties
Buchanan County: 12.3

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 Missouri

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Buchanan County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Atchison County	Kansas	5	28	17.2
Doniphan County	Kansas	1 or 2	14	18.4
Andrew County	Missouri	6	42	23.6
Clinton County	Missouri	1 or 2	30	14.3
DeKalb County	Missouri	5	30	26.0
Platte County	Missouri	11	116	11.0

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Missouri have a population nearest to that of Buchanan 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Buchanan County, Missouri: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mo/buchanan/. 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 Buchanan in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 112 deaths in Buchanan County from 2005 to 2014. It records 106 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Buchanan in 2024?

The rate of Buchanan County in 2024 was 9.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Missouri was 15.3. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 28 of 94 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 Buchanan?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 22 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.