Sandusky County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Ohio by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 8 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Sandusky County in 2024.

FARS records 100 deaths in 88 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 17.0 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Ohio in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Sandusky County was number 35 of 88 counties of Ohio.

Deaths in Sandusky County rose by 16.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (86) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (100).

In the counties of Ohio the deaths rose by 5.9% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 69.3% of the fatal crashes in Sandusky County with a known setting were rural, against 42.3% in Ohio.

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 Sandusky 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.Sandusky County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	8	7	1 or 2
2023	12	9	3
2022	7	7	1 or 2
2021	4	3	0
2020	13	11	1 or 2
2019	12	10	3
2018	11	11	5
2017	11	9	1 or 2
2016	12	11	4
2015	10	10	5
2015 to 2024	100	88	27

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 26 (1979)2024: 8

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

Table 2.Sandusky County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	8	7
2023	12	9
2022	7	7
2021	4	3
2020	13	11
2019	12	10
2018	11	11
2017	11	9
2016	12	11
2015	10	10
2014	11	11
2013	10	7
2012	6	6
2011	6	6
2010	7	7
2009	8	6
2008	7	6
2007	10	10
2006	10	10
2005	11	11
2004	18	12
2003	18	15
2002	16	14
2001	14	14
2000	10	9
1999	17	15
1998	20	19
1997	14	13
1996	12	10
1995	20	18
1994	14	13
1993	12	11
1992	12	11
1991	22	18
1990	18	17
1989	19	16
1988	11	10
1987	24	18
1986	14	14
1985	20	16
1984	21	15
1983	16	13
1982	21	18
1981	21	19
1980	14	12
1979	26	21
1978	25	20
1977	25	18
1976	24	22
1975	11	11

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.Sandusky County beside Ohio and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Sandusky County	Ohio	United States
2024	13.6	9.8	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	17.0	10.1	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. Sandusky County had 58,651 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Sandusky County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Ohio
A driver recorded as drinkingof 88 fatal crashes	27	88 fatal crashes	30.7%	31.7%
A speeding-related driverof 88 fatal crashes	13	88 fatal crashes	14.8%	22.7%
No restraint usedof 67 occupant deaths with restraint use known	31	67 occupant deathswith restraint use known	46.3%	55.4%
Pedestriansof 100 deaths	9	100 deaths	9.0%	11.7%
Bicyclistsof 100 deaths	3	100 deaths	3.0%	1.8%
Motorcyclistsof 100 deaths	12	100 deaths	12.0%	16.3%
On a rural roadof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	61	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	69.3%	42.3%
In the darkof 88 fatal crashes with the condition reported	35	88 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	39.8%	45.0%

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.Sandusky 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	6	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	14
Monday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	3	8
Tuesday	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	6	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	3	11
Thursday	5	3	1 or 2	7	17
Friday	0	5	5	4	14
Saturday	3	0	7	1 or 2	11
All days	17	22	20	29	88

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.Sandusky County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Ohio
Interstate	11	12.5%	11.6%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.1%	3.4%
Other principal arterial	27	30.7%	19.5%
Minor arterial	13	14.8%	21.6%
Major collector	12	13.6%	24.5%
Minor collector	3	3.4%	4.2%
Local	21	23.9%	15.2%
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.Sandusky County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	49
Dark, not lighted	28
Dark, lighted	7
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Sandusky County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	59
Cloudy	17
Rain	10
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	0

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Sandusky County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Sandusky	In all of Ohio
Interstate 80	Interstate	11	111
State Route 53	State highway	4	20
US Route 6	US highway	9	121
US Route 20	US highway	17	114
US Route 23	US highway	1 or 2	137

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 Ohio

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Sandusky County on the county map of Ohio

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

Fewer than 1022 counties
10 to 14.929 counties
15 to 19.927 counties
20 to 29.99 counties
30 or more1 county
Sandusky County: 17.0

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 Ohio

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Sandusky County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Erie County	Ohio	10	100	13.4
Huron County	Ohio	4	76	13.0
Ottawa County	Ohio	4	51	12.6
Seneca County	Ohio	13	67	12.2
Wood County	Ohio	19	174	13.3

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Ohio have a population nearest to that of Sandusky 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.
Ohio Traffic Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Ohio.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Sandusky County, Ohio: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/oh/sandusky/. 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 Sandusky in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 86 deaths in Sandusky County from 2005 to 2014. It records 100 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Sandusky in 2024?

The rate of Sandusky County in 2024 was 13.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Ohio was 9.8. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 27 of 88 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 Sandusky?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 42 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.