Sandoval County, New Mexico: fatal crash statistics

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

FARS records 13 deaths in 11 fatal crashes in Sandoval County in 2024.

FARS records 157 deaths in 137 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 10.6 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, Sandoval County was number 7 of 33 counties of New Mexico.

Deaths in Sandoval County fell by 9.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (174) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (157).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 39.4% of the fatal crashes in Sandoval County with known light were in the dark, against 49.6% 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 Sandoval 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.Sandoval County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	13	11	0
2023	13	13	3
2022	21	19	9
2021	19	17	10
2020	14	14	1 or 2
2019	16	15	5
2018	24	20	10
2017	16	12	5
2016	16	11	5
2015	5	5	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	157	137	50

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 33 (1980)2024: 13

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

Table 2.Sandoval County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	13	11
2023	13	13
2022	21	19
2021	19	17
2020	14	14
2019	16	15
2018	24	20
2017	16	12
2016	16	11
2015	5	5
2014	14	10
2013	18	13
2012	12	11
2011	12	11
2010	15	13
2009	21	17
2008	22	17
2007	14	12
2006	22	17
2005	24	21
2004	24	18
2003	19	16
2002	17	16
2001	15	14
2000	24	19
1999	25	23
1998	16	14
1997	15	13
1996	25	21
1995	19	16
1994	22	20
1993	21	17
1992	21	18
1991	25	24
1990	28	21
1989	26	19
1988	17	16
1987	28	25
1986	16	15
1985	30	20
1984	26	19
1983	12	12
1982	20	19
1981	22	17
1980	33	24
1979	21	19
1978	31	24
1977	26	22
1976	32	28
1975	18	17

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.Sandoval County beside New Mexico and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Sandoval County	New Mexico	United States
2024	8.2	19.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	10.6	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. Sandoval County had 157,611 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Sandoval County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in New Mexico
A driver recorded as drinkingof 137 fatal crashes	50	137 fatal crashes	36.5%	26.4%
A speeding-related driverof 137 fatal crashes	57	137 fatal crashes	41.6%	35.9%
No restraint usedof 107 occupant deaths with restraint use known	52	107 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.6%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 157 deaths	19	157 deaths	12.1%	20.5%
Bicyclistsof 157 deaths	1 or 2	157 deaths	0.6%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 157 deaths	20	157 deaths	12.7%	12.2%
On a rural roadof 137 fatal crashes with the condition reported	71	137 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	51.8%	54.5%
In the darkof 137 fatal crashes with the condition reported	54	137 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	39.4%	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.Sandoval 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	5	3	6	5	19
Monday	0	4	6	6	16
Tuesday	1 or 2	5	4	5	16
Wednesday	3	4	7	6	20
Thursday	3	3	9	8	23
Friday	3	5	7	7	22
Saturday	5	4	6	6	21
All days	21	28	45	43	137

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.Sandoval County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in New Mexico
Interstate	27	19.7%	21.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	0.7%	0.8%
Other principal arterial	62	45.3%	37.4%
Minor arterial	15	10.9%	14.8%
Major collector	13	9.5%	12.4%
Minor collector	4	2.9%	3.2%
Local	15	10.9%	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.Sandoval County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	75
Dark, not lighted	40
Dark, lighted	13
Dawn	3
Dusk	5
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Sandoval County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	123
Cloudy	0
Rain	4
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	6

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Sandoval County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Sandoval	In all of New Mexico
Interstate 25	Interstate	26	314
State Route 14	State highway	1 or 2	35
State Route 528	State highway	13	20
US Route 550	US highway	39	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.Sandoval 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
Sandoval County: 10.6

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 Sandoval County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bernalillo County	New Mexico	117	1,043	15.4
Cibola County	New Mexico	6	141	52.5
Los Alamos County	New Mexico	1 or 2	8	4.2
McKinley County	New Mexico	17	278	39.0
Rio Arriba County	New Mexico	9	116	29.3
San Juan County	New Mexico	20	285	23.0
Santa Fe County	New Mexico	18	201	13.2

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

FARS records 174 deaths in Sandoval County from 2005 to 2014. It records 157 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Sandoval in 2024?

The rate of Sandoval County in 2024 was 8.2 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 Sandoval had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 50 of 137 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 Sandoval?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 80 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.