Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Pennsylvania by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 28 deaths in 27 fatal crashes in Westmoreland County in 2024.

FARS records 349 deaths in 330 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.9 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, Westmoreland County was number 8 of 67 counties of Pennsylvania.

Deaths in Westmoreland County fell by 21.2% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (443) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (349).

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

From 2015 to 2024, a driver was recorded as drinking in 33.9% of fatal crashes in Westmoreland County and 25.4% 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 Westmoreland 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.Westmoreland County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	28	27	10
2023	32	28	10
2022	32	32	15
2021	36	31	8
2020	39	36	11
2019	37	36	8
2018	35	34	12
2017	36	35	14
2016	33	31	9
2015	41	40	15
2015 to 2024	349	330	112

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 106 (1984)2024: 28

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

Table 2.Westmoreland County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	28	27
2023	32	28
2022	32	32
2021	36	31
2020	39	36
2019	37	36
2018	35	34
2017	36	35
2016	33	31
2015	41	40
2014	35	33
2013	30	29
2012	55	52
2011	36	35
2010	44	39
2009	46	43
2008	58	48
2007	50	48
2006	35	33
2005	54	48
2004	50	48
2003	42	37
2002	49	44
2001	46	41
2000	47	44
1999	40	36
1998	45	42
1997	50	47
1996	60	53
1995	48	45
1994	50	45
1993	57	53
1992	38	34
1991	49	48
1990	50	46
1989	70	58
1988	58	54
1987	73	63
1986	73	65
1985	75	65
1984	106	92
1983	84	73
1982	83	74
1981	62	58
1980	83	69
1979	93	82
1978	69	60
1977	71	64
1976	71	58
1975	66	64

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.Westmoreland County beside Pennsylvania and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Westmoreland County	Pennsylvania	United States
2024	8.0	8.6	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.9	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. Westmoreland County had 350,473 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Westmoreland County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
A driver recorded as drinkingof 330 fatal crashes	112	330 fatal crashes	33.9%	25.4%
A speeding-related driverof 330 fatal crashes	140	330 fatal crashes	42.4%	40.2%
No restraint usedof 227 occupant deaths with restraint use known	145	227 occupant deathswith restraint use known	63.9%	57.8%
Pedestriansof 349 deaths	25	349 deaths	7.2%	14.3%
Bicyclistsof 349 deaths	3	349 deaths	0.9%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 349 deaths	69	349 deaths	19.8%	17.3%
On a rural roadof 329 fatal crashes with the condition reported	136	329 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	41.3%	45.3%
In the darkof 329 fatal crashes with the condition reported	125	329 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	38.0%	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.Westmoreland 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	15	18	52
Monday	7	11	16	6	40
Tuesday	7	15	14	7	43
Wednesday	3	11	22	9	45
Thursday	6	10	10	14	40
Friday	3	14	16	12	45
Saturday	14	11	19	21	65
All days	52	79	112	87	330

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.Westmoreland County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Pennsylvania
Interstate	17	5.2%	9.9%
Other freeways and expressways	12	3.7%	3.2%
Other principal arterial	91	28.1%	28.1%
Minor arterial	85	26.2%	22.4%
Major collector	73	22.5%	13.1%
Minor collector	4	1.2%	4.2%
Local	42	13.0%	19.1%
Not reported	6	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.Westmoreland County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	184
Dark, not lighted	100
Dark, lighted	24
Dawn	11
Dusk	9
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Westmoreland County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	177
Cloudy	11
Rain	22
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	11
Fog, smog or smoke	7
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	102

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Westmoreland County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Westmoreland	In all of Pennsylvania
Interstate 70	Interstate	7	40
Interstate 76	Interstate	8	123
State Route 31	State highway	11	20
State Route 51	State highway	7	55
State Route 56	State highway	8	31
State Route 66	State highway	15	31
State Route 130	State highway	9	22
State Route 400	State highway	9	22
State Route 2014	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 3003	State highway	1 or 2	20
US Route 22	US highway	21	136
US Route 30	US highway	23	200
US Route 119	US highway	11	44

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.Westmoreland 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
Westmoreland County: 9.9

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 Westmoreland County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Allegheny County	Pennsylvania	74	686	5.6
Armstrong County	Pennsylvania	8	94	14.4
Butler County	Pennsylvania	15	182	9.5
Cambria County	Pennsylvania	12	108	8.2
Fayette County	Pennsylvania	19	212	16.5
Indiana County	Pennsylvania	7	116	13.8
Somerset County	Pennsylvania	9	112	15.2
Washington County	Pennsylvania	29	234	11.2

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 Westmoreland 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. Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/westmoreland/. 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.

Embed this card on your site

Copy this code into your page. The card shows the figures above with their source. A line under the card links to this page.

<iframe src="https://fatalroads.com/embed/county/pa/westmoreland/" title="Fatal crashes in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:640px" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="margin:4px 0 0;font-size:13px"><a href="https://fatalroads.com/county/pa/westmoreland/">Fatal crashes in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania</a>, from fatalroads.com</p>

How embedding works. It is free. Keep the link in the card and the link line under it.

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 Westmoreland in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 443 deaths in Westmoreland County from 2005 to 2014. It records 349 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Westmoreland in 2024?

The rate of Westmoreland County in 2024 was 8.0 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 Westmoreland had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 112 of 330 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 Westmoreland?

13 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 131 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.