Lewis and Clark County, Montana: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Montana by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 6 fatal crashes in Lewis and Clark County in 2024.

FARS records 77 deaths in 73 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Montana in the same years is 18.9.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Lewis and Clark County was number 8 of 56 counties of Montana.

Deaths in Lewis and Clark County fell by 17.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (93) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (77).

In the counties of Montana the deaths fell by 9.7% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 65.8% of the fatal crashes in Lewis and Clark County with a known setting were rural, against 83.5% in Montana.

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 Lewis and Clark 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.Lewis and Clark County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	6	1 or 2
2023	8	8	3
2022	6	6	1 or 2
2021	9	9	3
2020	5	5	1 or 2
2019	6	6	1 or 2
2018	7	7	1 or 2
2017	11	10	3
2016	4	4	4
2015	15	12	3
2015 to 2024	77	73	24

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Lewis and Clark County by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 15 (1979)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Lewis and Clark County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	6
2023	8	8
2022	6	6
2021	9	9
2020	5	5
2019	6	6
2018	7	7
2017	11	10
2016	4	4
2015	15	12
2014	6	6
2013	7	5
2012	8	8
2011	7	7
2010	9	5
2009	12	12
2008	12	11
2007	11	10
2006	11	9
2005	10	9
2004	4	4
2003	5	5
2002	10	9
2001	4	4
2000	3	3
1999	12	11
1998	8	7
1997	4	3
1996	7	4
1995	12	11
1994	3	3
1993	11	10
1992	10	9
1991	6	6
1990	6	6
1989	7	7
1988	13	12
1987	15	14
1986	9	7
1985	9	9
1984	8	8
1983	11	9
1982	14	13
1981	14	13
1980	12	12
1979	15	13
1978	10	8
1977	9	9
1976	8	7
1975	13	10

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.Lewis and Clark County beside Montana and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lewis and Clark County	Montana	United States
2024	8.0	18.1	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.9	18.9	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. Lewis and Clark County had 75,092 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lewis and Clark County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Montana
A driver recorded as drinkingof 73 fatal crashes	24	73 fatal crashes	32.9%	43.9%
A speeding-related driverof 73 fatal crashes	25	73 fatal crashes	34.2%	35.8%
No restraint usedof 43 occupant deaths with restraint use known	29	43 occupant deathswith restraint use known	67.4%	63.3%
Pedestriansof 77 deaths	11	77 deaths	14.3%	7.5%
Bicyclistsof 77 deaths	1 or 2	77 deaths	1.3%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 77 deaths	16	77 deaths	20.8%	13.0%
On a rural roadof 73 fatal crashes with the condition reported	48	73 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	65.8%	83.5%
In the darkof 73 fatal crashes with the condition reported	30	73 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	41.1%	41.8%

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.Lewis and Clark 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	1 or 2	5	3	10
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5	12
Tuesday	0	3	5	1 or 2	10
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	4	9
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	5	11
Friday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	5	8
Saturday	3	3	4	3	13
All days	9	13	24	27	73

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.Lewis and Clark County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Montana
Interstate	5	6.9%	16.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.2%
Other principal arterial	26	36.1%	32.9%
Minor arterial	11	15.3%	15.2%
Major collector	17	23.6%	15.2%
Minor collector	1 or 2	2.8%	4.1%
Local	11	15.3%	15.8%
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.Lewis and Clark County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	39
Dark, not lighted	24
Dark, lighted	6
Dawn	0
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lewis and Clark County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	48
Cloudy	20
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lewis and Clark County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lewis and Clark	In all of Montana
Interstate 15	Interstate	5	62
State Route 200	State highway	10	53
US Route 12	US highway	15	45

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 Montana

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Lewis and Clark County on the county map of Montana

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.911 counties
15 to 19.96 counties
20 to 29.97 counties
30 or more27 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown3 counties
Lewis and Clark County: 10.9

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 Montana

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Lewis and Clark County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Broadwater County	Montana	4	21	30.9
Cascade County	Montana	11	103	12.4
Flathead County	Montana	23	178	16.9
Jefferson County	Montana	7	52	42.2
Meagher County	Montana	1 or 2	8	41.5
Powell County	Montana	0	31	44.6
Teton County	Montana	1 or 2	11	17.7

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Montana have a population nearest to that of Lewis and Clark 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. Lewis and Clark County, Montana: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/mt/lewis-and-clark/. 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 Lewis and Clark in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 93 deaths in Lewis and Clark County from 2005 to 2014. It records 77 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lewis and Clark in 2024?

The rate of Lewis and Clark County in 2024 was 8.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Montana was 18.1. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

How many fatal crashes in Lewis and Clark had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 24 of 73 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 Lewis and Clark?

FARS records 5 fatal crashes on Interstate 15 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 10 fatal crashes on State Route 200 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 15 fatal crashes on US Route 12 in the county from 2015 to 2024.