Bedford County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 8 fatal crashes in Bedford County in 2024.

FARS records 90 deaths in 81 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 18.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Pennsylvania in the same years is 9.0.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Bedford County was number 42 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Bedford County fell by 40.0% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (150) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (90).

In the counties of Pennsylvania the deaths fell by 14.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 100.0% of the fatal crashes in Bedford County with a known setting were rural, against 45.3% in Pennsylvania.

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 Bedford 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.Bedford County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	8	3
2023	11	11	1 or 2
2022	8	8	0
2021	14	12	3
2020	4	4	0
2019	6	5	1 or 2
2018	8	8	1 or 2
2017	12	9	1 or 2
2016	11	9	1 or 2
2015	7	7	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	90	81	17

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 28 (1999)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Bedford County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	8
2023	11	11
2022	8	8
2021	14	12
2020	4	4
2019	6	5
2018	8	8
2017	12	9
2016	11	9
2015	7	7
2014	13	13
2013	12	12
2012	17	15
2011	15	15
2010	13	11
2009	15	12
2008	15	15
2007	12	11
2006	20	17
2005	18	15
2004	23	20
2003	18	17
2002	15	10
2001	12	10
2000	14	14
1999	28	21
1998	9	7
1997	11	11
1996	15	15
1995	17	15
1994	11	11
1993	11	11
1992	11	11
1991	24	21
1990	22	16
1989	9	8
1988	25	23
1987	21	17
1986	21	19
1985	13	12
1984	15	10
1983	14	13
1982	16	13
1981	12	9
1980	14	14
1979	23	22
1978	14	14
1977	14	12
1976	15	14
1975	13	12

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.Bedford County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Bedford County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	18.9	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	18.8	9.0	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. Bedford County had 47,566 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Bedford County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 81 fatal crashes	17	81 fatal crashes	21.0%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 81 fatal crashes	34	81 fatal crashes	42.0%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 64 occupant deaths with restraint use known	35	64 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.7%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 90 deaths	5	90 deaths	5.6%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 90 deaths	1 or 2	90 deaths	2.2%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 90 deaths	13	90 deaths	14.4%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 81 fatal crashes with the condition reported	81	81 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	45.3%
In the darkof 81 fatal crashes with the condition reported	38	81 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.9%	43.6%

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.Bedford 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	4	4	4	4	16
Monday	3	3	5	1 or 2	12
Tuesday	1 or 2	0	3	3	8
Wednesday	1 or 2	3	4	1 or 2	9
Thursday	1 or 2	3	5	0	10
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	6	12
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	7	4	14
All days	15	16	31	19	81

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.Bedford County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	5	6.2%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	19	23.5%	28.1%
Minor arterial	22	27.2%	22.4%
Major collector	20	24.7%	13.1%
Minor collector	6	7.4%	4.2%
Local	9	11.1%	19.1%
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.Bedford County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	39
Dark, not lighted	33
Dark, lighted	5
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Bedford County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	48
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	20

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Bedford County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Bedford	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 76	Interstate	3	123
Interstate 99	Interstate	1 or 2	25
State Route 31	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 36	State highway	3	24
State Route 56	State highway	4	31
State Route 1001	State highway	1 or 2	31
State Route 1009	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 1010	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 3009	State highway	1 or 2	32
State Route 4003	State highway	1 or 2	26
US Route 30	US highway	17	200
US Route 220	US highway	7	39

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 Pennsylvania

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Bedford County on the county map of Pennsylvania

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

Fewer than 1019 counties
10 to 14.928 counties
15 to 19.917 counties
20 to 29.92 counties
30 or more1 county
Bedford County: 18.8

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 Pennsylvania

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Bedford County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allegany County	Maryland	10	79	11.4
Blair County	Pennsylvania	10	123	10.1
Cambria County	Pennsylvania	12	108	8.2
Fulton County	Pennsylvania	1 or 2	44	30.3
Huntingdon County	Pennsylvania	3	62	13.9
Somerset County	Pennsylvania	9	112	15.2

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Pennsylvania have a population nearest to that of Bedford 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.
Pennsylvania Department of TransportationThe highway safety office of Pennsylvania.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Bedford County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/bedford/. 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 Bedford in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 150 deaths in Bedford County from 2005 to 2014. It records 90 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Bedford in 2024?

The rate of Bedford County in 2024 was 18.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Pennsylvania was 8.6. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 17 of 81 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 Bedford?

12 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.