Saunders County, Nebraska: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Nebraska by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 5 deaths in 4 fatal crashes in Saunders County in 2024.

FARS records 47 deaths in 40 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 21.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Nebraska in the same years is 12.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Saunders County was number 13 of 93 counties of Nebraska.

Deaths in Saunders County rose by 23.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (38) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (47).

In the counties of Nebraska the deaths rose by 4.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 100.0% of the fatal crashes in Saunders County with a known setting were rural, against 68.5% in Nebraska.

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 Saunders County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Saunders County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	5	4	1 or 2
2023	7	7	1 or 2
2022	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2021	7	4	1 or 2
2020	4	3	0
2019	4	4	0
2018	3	3	1 or 2
2017	5	5	0
2016	5	3	0
2015	6	6	3
2015 to 2024	47	40	10

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 13 (1984)2024: 5

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

Table 2.Saunders County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	5	4
2023	7	7
2022	1 or 2	1 or 2
2021	7	4
2020	4	3
2019	4	4
2018	3	3
2017	5	5
2016	5	3
2015	6	6
2014	4	4
2013	1 or 2	1 or 2
2012	1 or 2	1 or 2
2011	4	4
2010	5	5
2009	3	3
2008	1 or 2	1 or 2
2007	1 or 2	1 or 2
2006	10	8
2005	5	5
2004	5	5
2003	1 or 2	1 or 2
2002	3	3
2001	10	9
2000	1 or 2	1 or 2
1999	4	4
1998	9	7
1997	5	5
1996	3	1 or 2
1995	9	7
1994	1 or 2	1 or 2
1993	1 or 2	1 or 2
1992	3	3
1991	7	7
1990	4	4
1989	8	7
1988	6	6
1987	5	4
1986	3	3
1985	1 or 2	1 or 2
1984	13	8
1983	9	7
1982	1 or 2	1 or 2
1981	7	7
1980	6	5
1979	3	3
1978	9	6
1977	9	8
1976	3	3
1975	5	5

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.Saunders County beside Nebraska and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Saunders County	Nebraska	United States
2024	21.3	12.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	21.3	12.1	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. Saunders County had 23,444 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Saunders County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Nebraska
A driver recorded as drinkingof 40 fatal crashes	10	40 fatal crashes	25.0%	32.6%
A speeding-related driverof 40 fatal crashes	10	40 fatal crashes	25.0%	17.5%
No restraint usedof 31 occupant deaths with restraint use known	13	31 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.9%	63.2%
Pedestriansof 47 deaths	1 or 2	47 deaths	4.3%	7.8%
Bicyclistsof 47 deaths	0	47 deaths	0.0%	0.9%
Motorcyclistsof 47 deaths	5	47 deaths	10.6%	11.0%
On a rural roadof 40 fatal crashes with the condition reported	40	40 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	68.5%
In the darkof 40 fatal crashes with the condition reported	13	40 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.5%	41.4%

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.Saunders 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	6	1 or 2	10
Monday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Tuesday	0	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	8
Thursday	0	0	0	3	3
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	4	7
Saturday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	4
All days	1 or 2	8	14	15	39

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.Saunders County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Nebraska
Interstate	0	0.0%	11.1%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	5.0%	4.3%
Other principal arterial	12	30.0%	30.4%
Minor arterial	1 or 2	5.0%	25.5%
Major collector	15	37.5%	10.1%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	1.9%
Local	9	22.5%	16.7%
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.Saunders County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	23
Dark, not lighted	10
Dark, lighted	3
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Saunders County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	29
Cloudy	5
Rain	0
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
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 Saunders County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Saunders	In all of Nebraska
State Route 92	State highway	4	31
US Route 6	US highway	1 or 2	78
US Route 77	US highway	10	52

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 Nebraska

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Saunders County on the county map of Nebraska

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

Fewer than 1010 counties
10 to 14.917 counties
15 to 19.912 counties
20 to 29.926 counties
30 or more21 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown7 counties
Saunders County: 21.3

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 Nebraska

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Saunders County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Butler County	Nebraska	1 or 2	19	23.1
Cass County	Nebraska	3	62	23.4
Dodge County	Nebraska	7	64	17.3
Douglas County	Nebraska	63	441	7.7
Lancaster County	Nebraska	24	203	6.4
Sarpy County	Nebraska	8	106	5.6

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Nebraska have a population nearest to that of Saunders 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. Saunders County, Nebraska: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/ne/saunders/. 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 Saunders in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 38 deaths in Saunders County from 2005 to 2014. It records 47 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Saunders in 2024?

The rate of Saunders County in 2024 was 21.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Nebraska was 12.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10 of 40 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 Saunders?

FARS records 4 fatal crashes on State Route 92 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 1 or 2 fatal crashes on US Route 6 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 10 fatal crashes on US Route 77 in the county from 2015 to 2024.