Erie County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 36 deaths in 33 fatal crashes in Erie County in 2024.

FARS records 262 deaths in 248 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.7 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, Erie County was number 14 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Erie County fell by 17.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (318) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (262).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 50.4% of the fatal crashes in Erie 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 Erie 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.Erie County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	36	33	13
2023	30	28	7
2022	28	27	9
2021	21	21	3
2020	15	14	4
2019	26	25	6
2018	21	20	8
2017	27	25	8
2016	27	27	5
2015	31	28	6
2015 to 2024	262	248	69

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 72 (1977)2024: 36

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

Table 2.Erie County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	36	33
2023	30	28
2022	28	27
2021	21	21
2020	15	14
2019	26	25
2018	21	20
2017	27	25
2016	27	27
2015	31	28
2014	30	29
2013	34	34
2012	28	26
2011	32	31
2010	39	35
2009	30	27
2008	39	31
2007	27	24
2006	36	30
2005	23	23
2004	34	33
2003	25	22
2002	41	39
2001	44	37
2000	38	36
1999	42	38
1998	39	33
1997	39	35
1996	34	30
1995	33	30
1994	53	42
1993	34	30
1992	36	31
1991	44	37
1990	37	36
1989	42	35
1988	41	39
1987	46	43
1986	43	39
1985	48	46
1984	39	35
1983	39	35
1982	48	44
1981	58	51
1980	61	53
1979	55	49
1978	42	33
1977	72	58
1976	52	47
1975	59	57

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.Erie County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Erie County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	13.5	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.7	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. Erie County had 266,435 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Erie County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 248 fatal crashes	69	248 fatal crashes	27.8%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 248 fatal crashes	97	248 fatal crashes	39.1%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 139 occupant deaths with restraint use known	82	139 occupant deathswith restraint use known	59.0%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 262 deaths	42	262 deaths	16.0%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 262 deaths	8	262 deaths	3.1%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 262 deaths	53	262 deaths	20.2%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 246 fatal crashes with the condition reported	124	246 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.4%	45.3%
In the darkof 248 fatal crashes with the condition reported	108	248 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	43.5%	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.Erie 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	13	7	14	4	38
Monday	0	9	17	6	32
Tuesday	1 or 2	11	9	9	30
Wednesday	4	3	9	10	26
Thursday	5	4	13	13	35
Friday	7	8	15	10	40
Saturday	13	7	9	18	47
All days	43	49	86	70	248

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.Erie County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	24	9.7%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	69	27.9%	28.1%
Minor arterial	66	26.7%	22.4%
Major collector	25	10.1%	13.1%
Minor collector	8	3.2%	4.2%
Local	55	22.3%	19.1%
Not reported	1 or 2	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.Erie County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	135
Dark, not lighted	63
Dark, lighted	43
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Erie County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	140
Cloudy	5
Rain	30
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	14
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	58

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Erie County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Erie	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 79	Interstate	8	73
State Route 5	State highway	29	29
State Route 8	State highway	11	61
State Route 18	State highway	4	46
State Route 1005	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 2004	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 2006	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 2029	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 4002	State highway	1 or 2	25
US Route 6	US highway	10	98
US Route 19	US highway	11	66
US Route 20	US highway	33	33

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.Erie 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
Erie County: 9.7

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 Erie County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Chautauqua County	New York	12	115	9.0
Ashtabula County	Ohio	21	171	17.5
Crawford County	Pennsylvania	14	121	14.4
Warren County	Pennsylvania	5	55	14.2

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 Erie 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. Erie County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/erie/. 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 Erie in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 318 deaths in Erie County from 2005 to 2014. It records 262 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Erie in 2024?

The rate of Erie County in 2024 was 13.5 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 Erie had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 69 of 248 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 Erie?

12 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 111 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.