Lehigh County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 32 deaths in 30 fatal crashes in Lehigh County in 2024.

FARS records 296 deaths in 269 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.0 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, Lehigh County was number 11 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Lehigh County fell by 17.5% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (359) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (296).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 29.1% of the fatal crashes in Lehigh 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 Lehigh 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.Lehigh County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	32	30	7
2023	26	23	1 or 2
2022	31	27	10
2021	30	26	10
2020	32	30	7
2019	26	25	6
2018	26	24	4
2017	28	27	5
2016	28	23	10
2015	37	34	13
2015 to 2024	296	269	73

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 56 (1986)2024: 32

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

Table 2.Lehigh County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	32	30
2023	26	23
2022	31	27
2021	30	26
2020	32	30
2019	26	25
2018	26	24
2017	28	27
2016	28	23
2015	37	34
2014	37	35
2013	30	27
2012	42	35
2011	24	23
2010	22	21
2009	35	32
2008	42	41
2007	37	32
2006	41	39
2005	49	46
2004	37	36
2003	35	33
2002	26	24
2001	34	31
2000	31	28
1999	34	31
1998	42	37
1997	37	36
1996	28	27
1995	41	35
1994	38	36
1993	34	31
1992	35	32
1991	41	38
1990	31	28
1989	48	40
1988	45	39
1987	47	43
1986	56	51
1985	36	33
1984	27	24
1983	49	40
1982	26	22
1981	53	49
1980	54	44
1979	47	45
1978	50	48
1977	54	49
1976	37	31
1975	41	36

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.Lehigh County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lehigh County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	8.4	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.0	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. Lehigh County had 382,939 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lehigh County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 269 fatal crashes	73	269 fatal crashes	27.1%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 269 fatal crashes	110	269 fatal crashes	40.9%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 159 occupant deaths with restraint use known	84	159 occupant deathswith restraint use known	52.8%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 296 deaths	46	296 deaths	15.5%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 296 deaths	4	296 deaths	1.4%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 296 deaths	54	296 deaths	18.2%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 268 fatal crashes with the condition reported	78	268 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	29.1%	45.3%
In the darkof 269 fatal crashes with the condition reported	128	269 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.6%	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.Lehigh 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	12	7	11	12	42
Monday	7	7	17	13	44
Tuesday	10	5	13	15	43
Wednesday	3	8	13	9	33
Thursday	8	5	11	15	39
Friday	1 or 2	3	14	18	37
Saturday	6	5	6	14	31
All days	48	40	85	96	269

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.Lehigh County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	29	10.9%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	18	6.8%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	75	28.2%	28.1%
Minor arterial	40	15.0%	22.4%
Major collector	28	10.5%	13.1%
Minor collector	9	3.4%	4.2%
Local	67	25.2%	19.1%
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.Lehigh County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	131
Dark, not lighted	65
Dark, lighted	63
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lehigh County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	148
Cloudy	9
Rain	33
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	5
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	72

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lehigh County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lehigh	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 78	Interstate	20	50
Interstate 476	Interstate	7	51
State Route 29	State highway	5	34
State Route 100	State highway	4	23
State Route 309	State highway	14	81
State Route 1002	State highway	1 or 2	26
State Route 1003	State highway	3	29
State Route 1004	State highway	1 or 2	27
State Route 1005	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 1009	State highway	1 or 2	30
State Route 1011	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 1015	State highway	1 or 2	21
State Route 2002	State highway	3	25
State Route 2004	State highway	1 or 2	24
State Route 2007	State highway	3	22
State Route 2029	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3001	State highway	1 or 2	23
State Route 3003	State highway	1 or 2	20
State Route 4003	State highway	4	26
US Route 11	US highway	1 or 2	144
US Route 22	US highway	9	136
US Route 222	US highway	17	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 Pennsylvania

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Lehigh 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
Lehigh County: 8.0

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 Pennsylvania

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Lehigh County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Berks County	Pennsylvania	47	440	10.3
Bucks County	Pennsylvania	45	513	8.1
Carbon County	Pennsylvania	13	106	16.4
Montgomery County	Pennsylvania	50	420	5.0
Northampton County	Pennsylvania	15	213	6.9
Schuylkill County	Pennsylvania	22	208	14.5

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

FARS records 359 deaths in Lehigh County from 2005 to 2014. It records 296 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Lehigh in 2024?

The rate of Lehigh County in 2024 was 8.4 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 Lehigh had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 73 of 269 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 Lehigh?

22 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 103 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.