Lincoln County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 6 deaths in 5 fatal crashes in Lincoln County in 2024.

FARS records 50 deaths in 47 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 25.2 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, Lincoln County was number 22 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in Lincoln County fell by 2.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (51) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (50).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 89.4% of the fatal crashes in Lincoln 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 Lincoln 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.Lincoln County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	5	1 or 2
2023	10	10	1 or 2
2022	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2021	3	3	1 or 2
2020	4	4	1 or 2
2019	6	5	3
2018	4	4	1 or 2
2017	6	5	1 or 2
2016	7	7	0
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	50	47	16

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 19 (1977)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Lincoln County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	5
2023	10	10
2022	1 or 2	1 or 2
2021	3	3
2020	4	4
2019	6	5
2018	4	4
2017	6	5
2016	7	7
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2
2014	5	5
2013	5	4
2012	4	4
2011	7	6
2010	3	1 or 2
2009	8	3
2008	1 or 2	1 or 2
2007	4	4
2006	7	7
2005	7	6
2004	7	7
2003	3	3
2002	18	14
2001	13	9
2000	9	7
1999	7	6
1998	14	13
1997	11	9
1996	4	4
1995	10	8
1994	6	5
1993	10	9
1992	13	9
1991	3	3
1990	12	11
1989	12	11
1988	12	7
1987	16	12
1986	10	8
1985	8	6
1984	7	5
1983	16	14
1982	10	10
1981	16	14
1980	10	9
1979	9	6
1978	12	12
1977	19	14
1976	13	12
1975	15	13

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.Lincoln County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lincoln County	New Mexico	United States
2024	29.9	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	25.2	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. Lincoln County had 20,036 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lincoln County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 47 fatal crashes	16	47 fatal crashes	34.0%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 47 fatal crashes	16	47 fatal crashes	34.0%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 34 occupant deaths with restraint use known	20	34 occupant deathswith restraint use known	58.8%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 50 deaths	1 or 2	50 deaths	2.0%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 50 deaths	0	50 deaths	0.0%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 50 deaths	10	50 deaths	20.0%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 47 fatal crashes with the condition reported	42	47 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	89.4%	54.5%
In the darkof 47 fatal crashes with the condition reported	24	47 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.1%	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.Lincoln 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Monday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	7
Tuesday	1 or 2	3	3	3	11
Wednesday	1 or 2	0	0	1 or 2	3
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3
Friday	0	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	3
Saturday	1 or 2	0	5	6	13
All days	8	11	11	17	47

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.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Mexico
Interstate	0	0.0%	21.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	2.1%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	21	44.7%	37.4%
Minor arterial	12	25.5%	14.8%
Major collector	9	19.1%	12.4%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	3.2%
Local	4	8.5%	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.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	23
Dark, not lighted	22
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lincoln County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	43
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	0
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
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 Lincoln County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lincoln	In all of New Mexico
US Route 54	US highway	10	49
US Route 70	US highway	7	74
US Route 285	US highway	1 or 2	97
US Route 380	US highway	8	26

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.Lincoln 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
Lincoln County: 25.2

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 Lincoln County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Chaves County	New Mexico	14	113	17.5
De Baca County	New Mexico	1 or 2	14	80.3
Guadalupe County	New Mexico	10	87	199.3
Otero County	New Mexico	11	95	14.0
Sierra County	New Mexico	4	37	32.8
Socorro County	New Mexico	14	94	56.9
Torrance County	New Mexico	14	103	66.5

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 Lincoln 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. Lincoln County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nm/lincoln/. 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 Lincoln in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 51 deaths in Lincoln County from 2005 to 2014. It records 50 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lincoln in 2024?

The rate of Lincoln County in 2024 was 29.9 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 Lincoln had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 16 of 47 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 Lincoln?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 27 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.