Putnam County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Tennessee by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 10 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Putnam County in 2024.

FARS records 135 deaths in 121 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 16.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Tennessee in the same years is 16.8.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Putnam County was number 20 of 95 counties of Tennessee.

Deaths in Putnam County rose by 22.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (110) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (135).

In the counties of Tennessee the deaths rose by 7.8% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 41.9% of the occupants killed in Putnam County with restraint use known had no restraint, against 48.7% in Tennessee.

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 Putnam 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.Putnam County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	10	9	1 or 2
2023	16	14	6
2022	19	18	1 or 2
2021	19	17	6
2020	11	10	1 or 2
2019	14	13	6
2018	15	14	3
2017	9	8	1 or 2
2016	17	13	4
2015	5	5	4
2015 to 2024	135	121	35

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 27 (2006)2024: 10

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

Table 2.Putnam County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	10	9
2023	16	14
2022	19	18
2021	19	17
2020	11	10
2019	14	13
2018	15	14
2017	9	8
2016	17	13
2015	5	5
2014	7	7
2013	7	6
2012	8	8
2011	10	10
2010	7	7
2009	11	11
2008	13	12
2007	10	10
2006	27	22
2005	10	10
2004	17	16
2003	11	11
2002	1 or 2	1 or 2
2001	12	11
2000	19	18
1999	20	18
1998	14	14
1997	17	12
1996	15	15
1995	21	15
1994	10	10
1993	12	12
1992	6	6
1991	9	8
1990	16	14
1989	20	15
1988	11	9
1987	19	16
1986	13	11
1985	18	16
1984	14	14
1983	8	8
1982	4	3
1981	6	6
1980	24	16
1979	14	12
1978	12	9
1977	14	14
1976	8	6
1975	9	8

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.Putnam County beside Tennessee and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Putnam County	Tennessee	United States
2024	11.8	16.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	16.9	16.8	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. Putnam County had 85,011 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Putnam County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Tennessee
A driver recorded as drinkingof 121 fatal crashes	35	121 fatal crashes	28.9%	24.5%
A speeding-related driverof 121 fatal crashes	17	121 fatal crashes	14.0%	16.5%
No restraint usedof 93 occupant deaths with restraint use known	39	93 occupant deathswith restraint use known	41.9%	48.7%
Pedestriansof 135 deaths	9	135 deaths	6.7%	13.0%
Bicyclistsof 135 deaths	0	135 deaths	0.0%	0.8%
Motorcyclistsof 135 deaths	24	135 deaths	17.8%	13.8%
On a rural roadof 121 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	121 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	48.8%	42.8%
In the darkof 121 fatal crashes with the condition reported	48	121 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	39.7%	46.2%

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.Putnam 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	1 or 2	3	3	11
Monday	0	3	13	1 or 2	18
Tuesday	1 or 2	4	7	3	15
Wednesday	3	6	4	4	17
Thursday	0	5	6	1 or 2	13
Friday	1 or 2	4	4	7	16
Saturday	4	1 or 2	11	9	25
All days	13	24	48	30	115

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.Putnam County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Tennessee
Interstate	29	24.0%	14.4%
Other freeways and expressways	6	5.0%	1.5%
Other principal arterial	16	13.2%	29.3%
Minor arterial	20	16.5%	23.5%
Major collector	26	21.5%	11.9%
Minor collector	11	9.1%	7.7%
Local	13	10.7%	11.7%
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.Putnam County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	67
Dark, not lighted	34
Dark, lighted	14
Dawn	4
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Putnam County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	87
Cloudy	13
Rain	12
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	3
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	6

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Putnam County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Putnam	In all of Tennessee
Interstate 40	Interstate	29	588
State Route 56	State highway	1 or 2	34
State Route 62	State highway	6	68
State Route 96	State highway	1 or 2	47
State Route 111	State highway	9	41
US Route 70	US highway	1 or 2	214
US Route 70N	US highway	15	29

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 Tennessee

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Putnam County on the county map of Tennessee

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

Fewer than 102 counties
10 to 14.916 counties
15 to 19.927 counties
20 to 29.940 counties
30 or more10 counties
Putnam County: 16.9

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 Tennessee

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Putnam County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Cumberland County	Tennessee	14	143	23.3
DeKalb County	Tennessee	5	42	20.6
Fentress County	Tennessee	7	41	21.9
Jackson County	Tennessee	5	31	26.1
Overton County	Tennessee	5	39	17.3
Smith County	Tennessee	8	54	26.9
White County	Tennessee	6	41	14.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Tennessee have a population nearest to that of Putnam 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.
Tennessee Highway Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Tennessee.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Putnam County, Tennessee: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/tn/putnam/. 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 Putnam in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 110 deaths in Putnam County from 2005 to 2014. It records 135 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Putnam in 2024?

The rate of Putnam County in 2024 was 11.8 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Tennessee was 16.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 35 of 121 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 Putnam?

7 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 64 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.