Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 9 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Rio Arriba County in 2024.

FARS records 116 deaths in 103 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 29.3 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, Rio Arriba County was number 10 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in Rio Arriba County fell by 15.9% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (138) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (116).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 76.2% of the fatal crashes in Rio Arriba 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 Rio Arriba 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.Rio Arriba County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	9	1 or 2
2023	16	12	1 or 2
2022	14	13	6
2021	6	5	0
2020	14	12	6
2019	12	12	5
2018	14	13	5
2017	8	7	3
2016	11	9	6
2015	12	11	5
2015 to 2024	116	103	39

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 31 (1985)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Rio Arriba County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	9
2023	16	12
2022	14	13
2021	6	5
2020	14	12
2019	12	12
2018	14	13
2017	8	7
2016	11	9
2015	12	11
2014	8	7
2013	13	11
2012	19	17
2011	10	10
2010	12	10
2009	15	11
2008	15	14
2007	16	12
2006	12	11
2005	18	17
2004	29	22
2003	14	12
2002	22	20
2001	14	14
2000	25	22
1999	30	26
1998	14	12
1997	25	19
1996	26	23
1995	24	23
1994	24	17
1993	22	18
1992	14	12
1991	20	18
1990	23	17
1989	16	15
1988	20	15
1987	16	14
1986	27	24
1985	31	26
1984	16	16
1983	22	17
1982	23	20
1981	22	18
1980	13	12
1979	15	12
1978	24	17
1977	29	23
1976	20	16
1975	23	21

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.Rio Arriba County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Rio Arriba County	New Mexico	United States
2024	22.5	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	29.3	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. Rio Arriba County had 39,948 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Rio Arriba County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 103 fatal crashes	39	103 fatal crashes	37.9%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 103 fatal crashes	39	103 fatal crashes	37.9%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 77 occupant deaths with restraint use known	46	77 occupant deathswith restraint use known	59.7%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 116 deaths	16	116 deaths	13.8%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 116 deaths	1 or 2	116 deaths	0.9%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 116 deaths	13	116 deaths	11.2%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 101 fatal crashes with the condition reported	77	101 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	76.2%	54.5%
In the darkof 99 fatal crashes with the condition reported	45	99 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.5%	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.Rio Arriba 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	7	8	18
Monday	0	3	6	4	13
Tuesday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	8
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	6	6	16
Thursday	0	1 or 2	4	4	9
Friday	1 or 2	4	5	8	19
Saturday	3	1 or 2	9	5	19
All days	10	16	39	37	102

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.Rio Arriba 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	0	0.0%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	42	42.0%	37.4%
Minor arterial	31	31.0%	14.8%
Major collector	11	11.0%	12.4%
Minor collector	5	5.0%	3.2%
Local	11	11.0%	9.7%
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.Rio Arriba County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	52
Dark, not lighted	38
Dark, lighted	6
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	0
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	4

Table 8.Rio Arriba County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	92
Cloudy	0
Rain	5
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	4

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Rio Arriba County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Rio Arriba	In all of New Mexico
State Route 68	State highway	20	38
US Route 64	US highway	10	88
US Route 84	US highway	27	53
US Route 285	US highway	4	97
US Route 550	US highway	6	73

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.Rio Arriba 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
Rio Arriba County: 29.3

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 New Mexico

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Rio Arriba County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Archuleta County	Colorado	3	28	20.6
Conejos County	Colorado	1 or 2	15	19.2
Los Alamos County	New Mexico	1 or 2	8	4.2
Mora County	New Mexico	1 or 2	37	85.3
San Juan County	New Mexico	20	285	23.0
Sandoval County	New Mexico	13	157	10.6
Santa Fe County	New Mexico	18	201	13.2
Taos County	New Mexico	7	80	23.8

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 Rio Arriba 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. Rio Arriba County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/nm/rio-arriba/. 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 Rio Arriba in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 138 deaths in Rio Arriba County from 2005 to 2014. It records 116 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Rio Arriba in 2024?

The rate of Rio Arriba County in 2024 was 22.5 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 Rio Arriba had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 39 of 103 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 Rio Arriba?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 67 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.