Colfax County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 5 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Colfax County in 2024.

FARS records 44 deaths in 41 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 35.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of New Mexico in the same years is 19.4.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Colfax County was number 25 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in Colfax County fell by 20.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (55) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (44).

In the counties of New Mexico the deaths rose by 5.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 87.8% of the fatal crashes in Colfax County with a known setting were rural, against 54.5% in New Mexico.

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 Colfax 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.Colfax County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	5	5	0
2023	5	5	0
2022	3	3	0
2021	5	4	1 or 2
2020	3	3	1 or 2
2019	5	4	1 or 2
2018	5	4	1 or 2
2017	4	4	0
2016	5	5	0
2015	4	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	44	41	8

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 17 (2003)2024: 5

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

Table 2.Colfax County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	5	5
2023	5	5
2022	3	3
2021	5	4
2020	3	3
2019	5	4
2018	5	4
2017	4	4
2016	5	5
2015	4	4
2014	7	6
2013	6	6
2012	5	4
2011	5	4
2010	5	5
2009	4	3
2008	4	3
2007	5	5
2006	6	6
2005	8	7
2004	6	6
2003	17	10
2002	7	7
2001	9	9
2000	10	9
1999	5	5
1998	4	4
1997	7	5
1996	8	6
1995	3	3
1994	8	7
1993	5	5
1992	7	6
1991	1 or 2	1 or 2
1990	6	6
1989	4	4
1988	9	9
1987	11	8
1986	4	1 or 2
1985	7	6
1984	1 or 2	1 or 2
1983	10	10
1982	6	5
1981	7	6
1980	5	5
1979	1 or 2	1 or 2
1978	8	7
1977	4	4
1976	6	5
1975	6	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.Colfax County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Colfax County	New Mexico	United States
2024	40.6	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	35.9	19.4	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. Colfax County had 12,311 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Colfax County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 41 fatal crashes	8	41 fatal crashes	19.5%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 41 fatal crashes	13	41 fatal crashes	31.7%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 33 occupant deaths with restraint use known	14	33 occupant deathswith restraint use known	42.4%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 44 deaths	6	44 deaths	13.6%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 44 deaths	0	44 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 44 deaths	4	44 deaths	9.1%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 41 fatal crashes with the condition reported	36	41 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	87.8%	54.5%
In the darkof 41 fatal crashes with the condition reported	12	41 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	29.3%	49.6%

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.Colfax 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	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	5
Monday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	4
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	1 or 2
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Friday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	10
All days	7	10	17	7	41

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.Colfax County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Mexico
Interstate	24	58.5%	21.6%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	4	9.8%	37.4%
Minor arterial	5	12.2%	14.8%
Major collector	1 or 2	4.9%	12.4%
Minor collector	3	7.3%	3.2%
Local	3	7.3%	9.7%
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.Colfax County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	26
Dark, not lighted	12
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Colfax County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	38
Cloudy	0
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Colfax County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Colfax	In all of New Mexico
Interstate 25	Interstate	24	314
US Route 64	US highway	5	88

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 Mexico

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Colfax County on the county map of New Mexico

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

Fewer than 101 county
10 to 14.96 counties
15 to 19.92 counties
20 to 29.910 counties
30 or more14 counties
Colfax County: 35.9

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 New Mexico

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Colfax County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Costilla County	Colorado	1 or 2	24	65.4
Las Animas County	Colorado	1 or 2	34	23.7
Harding County	New Mexico	0	4	61.2
Mora County	New Mexico	1 or 2	37	85.3
Taos County	New Mexico	7	80	23.8
Union County	New Mexico	0	11	27.0

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of New Mexico have a population nearest to that of Colfax 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 Mexico Traffic Safety DivisionThe highway safety office of New Mexico.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Colfax County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nm/colfax/. 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 Colfax in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 55 deaths in Colfax County from 2005 to 2014. It records 44 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Colfax in 2024?

The rate of Colfax County in 2024 was 40.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of New Mexico was 19.2. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 8 of 41 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 Colfax?

FARS records 24 fatal crashes on Interstate 25 in the county from 2015 to 2024. FARS records 5 fatal crashes on US Route 64 in the county from 2015 to 2024.