Somerset County, New Jersey: fatal crash statistics

Counties of New Jersey by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 19 deaths in 18 fatal crashes in Somerset County in 2024.

FARS records 196 deaths in 186 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 5.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New Jersey in the same years is 6.7.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Somerset County was number 16 of 21 counties of New Jersey.

Deaths in Somerset County fell by 0.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (197) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (196).

In the counties of New Jersey the deaths fell by 2.2% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 34.3% of the occupants killed in Somerset County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 45.5% in New Jersey.

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 Somerset 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.Somerset County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	19	18	7
2023	22	20	5
2022	18	17	1 or 2
2021	25	25	5
2020	14	14	3
2019	11	11	1 or 2
2018	23	23	6
2017	23	22	1 or 2
2016	19	18	4
2015	22	18	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	196	186	37

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 42 (1978)2024: 19

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

Table 2.Somerset County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	19	18
2023	22	20
2022	18	17
2021	25	25
2020	14	14
2019	11	11
2018	23	23
2017	23	22
2016	19	18
2015	22	18
2014	25	24
2013	19	19
2012	18	16
2011	19	17
2010	29	27
2009	13	13
2008	15	15
2007	21	19
2006	20	19
2005	18	18
2004	18	18
2003	20	19
2002	25	23
2001	16	15
2000	17	15
1999	24	22
1998	22	19
1997	23	21
1996	23	22
1995	28	25
1994	19	16
1993	19	18
1992	27	24
1991	40	34
1990	20	19
1989	27	26
1988	23	20
1987	23	23
1986	38	35
1985	24	24
1984	19	18
1983	30	27
1982	31	29
1981	40	36
1980	29	28
1979	33	32
1978	42	40
1977	30	28
1976	31	30
1975	30	28

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.Somerset County beside New Jersey and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Somerset County	New Jersey	United States
2024	5.4	7.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	5.8	6.7	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. Somerset County had 355,122 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Somerset County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Jersey
A driver recorded as drinkingof 186 fatal crashes	37	186 fatal crashes	19.9%	22.0%
A speeding-related driverof 186 fatal crashes	33	186 fatal crashes	17.7%	23.0%
No restraint usedof 102 occupant deaths with restraint use known	35	102 occupant deathswith restraint use known	34.3%	45.5%
Pedestriansof 196 deaths	60	196 deaths	30.6%	29.4%
Bicyclistsof 196 deaths	5	196 deaths	2.6%	3.2%
Motorcyclistsof 196 deaths	26	196 deaths	13.3%	13.3%
On a rural roadof 175 fatal crashes with the condition reported	3	175 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	1.7%	11.0%
In the darkof 186 fatal crashes with the condition reported	89	186 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.8%	51.3%

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.Somerset 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	4	6	5	4	19
Monday	3	3	9	10	25
Tuesday	5	4	8	9	26
Wednesday	4	5	12	11	32
Thursday	6	5	6	6	23
Friday	4	5	14	11	34
Saturday	4	6	5	12	27
All days	30	34	59	63	186

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.Somerset County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Jersey
Interstate	43	23.5%	10.2%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.1%	10.2%
Other principal arterial	55	30.1%	34.6%
Minor arterial	40	21.9%	22.5%
Major collector	20	10.9%	10.7%
Minor collector	1 or 2	0.5%	0.8%
Local	22	12.0%	10.9%
Not reported	3	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.Somerset County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	87
Dark, not lighted	42
Dark, lighted	44
Dawn	4
Dusk	6
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Somerset County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	149
Cloudy	17
Rain	15
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 Somerset County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Somerset	In all of New Jersey
Interstate 78	Interstate	24	90
Interstate 287	Interstate	20	57
State Route 27	State highway	7	78
State Route 28	State highway	8	21
US Route 22	US highway	19	43
US Route 202	US highway	9	27
US Route 206	US highway	6	51

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 New Jersey

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Somerset County on the county map of New Jersey

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

Fewer than 1015 counties
10 to 14.94 counties
15 to 19.91 county
20 to 29.91 county
30 or more0 counties
Somerset County: 5.8

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 New Jersey

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Somerset County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Hunterdon County	New Jersey	9	75	5.9
Mercer County	New Jersey	36	266	7.0
Middlesex County	New Jersey	60	532	6.3
Morris County	New Jersey	21	234	4.6
Union County	New Jersey	38	302	5.3

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New Jersey have a population nearest to that of Somerset 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.
New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic SafetyThe highway safety office of New Jersey.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Somerset County, New Jersey: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nj/somerset/. 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 Somerset in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 197 deaths in Somerset County from 2005 to 2014. It records 196 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Somerset in 2024?

The rate of Somerset County in 2024 was 5.4 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New Jersey was 7.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 37 of 186 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 Somerset?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 93 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.