Bedford County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 17 deaths in 16 fatal crashes in Bedford County in 2024.

FARS records 127 deaths in 124 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 15.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Virginia in the same years is 10.1.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Bedford County was number 19 of 133 counties of Virginia.

Deaths in Bedford County rose by 2.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (124) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (127).

In the counties of Virginia the deaths rose by 5.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 91.1% of the fatal crashes in Bedford County with a known setting were rural, against 55.4% in Virginia.

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	17	16	10
2023	5	5	0
2022	11	11	3
2021	19	18	7
2020	10	10	3
2019	16	16	3
2018	12	12	5
2017	17	17	6
2016	14	13	7
2015	6	6	4
2015 to 2024	127	124	48

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 21 (1990)2024: 17

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	17	16
2023	5	5
2022	11	11
2021	19	18
2020	10	10
2019	16	16
2018	12	12
2017	17	17
2016	14	13
2015	6	6
2014	7	7
2013	9	8
2012	21	18
2011	12	10
2010	12	11
2009	14	14
2008	9	9
2007	15	11
2006	10	10
2005	15	12
2004	16	12
2003	12	9
2002	10	10
2001	11	11
2000	9	9
1999	16	15
1998	7	7
1997	19	17
1996	9	9
1995	17	14
1994	5	5
1993	7	6
1992	15	15
1991	13	12
1990	21	19
1989	16	14
1988	9	7
1987	9	8
1986	11	11
1985	6	6
1984	3	3
1983	10	9
1982	9	9
1981	3	3
1980	6	6
1979	7	6
1978	19	17
1977	11	10
1976	7	7
1975	8	7

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 Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Bedford County	Virginia	United States
2024	20.6	10.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	15.9	10.1	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 82,467 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 Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 124 fatal crashes	48	124 fatal crashes	38.7%	29.4%
A speeding-related driverof 124 fatal crashes	36	124 fatal crashes	29.0%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 113 occupant deaths with restraint use known	55	113 occupant deathswith restraint use known	48.7%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 127 deaths	4	127 deaths	3.1%	13.9%
Bicyclistsof 127 deaths	0	127 deaths	0.0%	1.6%
Motorcyclistsof 127 deaths	10	127 deaths	7.9%	12.3%
On a rural roadof 124 fatal crashes with the condition reported	113	124 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	91.1%	55.4%
In the darkof 123 fatal crashes with the condition reported	58	123 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	47.2%	45.4%

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	7	1 or 2	8	1 or 2	18
Monday	1 or 2	5	3	3	13
Tuesday	3	1 or 2	5	3	13
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	10	3	17
Thursday	3	5	5	6	19
Friday	1 or 2	3	5	16	26
Saturday	6	3	6	3	18
All days	25	22	42	35	124

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 Virginia
Interstate	0	0.0%	14.8%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	26	21.3%	26.4%
Minor arterial	50	41.0%	24.4%
Major collector	25	20.5%	18.4%
Minor collector	4	3.3%	3.5%
Local	17	13.9%	10.0%
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.Bedford County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	60
Dark, not lighted	58
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	1 or 2

Table 8.Bedford County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	0
Cloudy	6
Rain	12
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	104

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 Virginia
State Route 24	State highway	18	24
State Route 122	State highway	17	24
US Route 221	US highway	9	26
US Route 460	US highway	24	242
US Route 501	US highway	4	48

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 Virginia

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Bedford County on the county map of Virginia

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

Fewer than 1039 counties
10 to 14.921 counties
15 to 19.925 counties
20 to 29.927 counties
30 or more15 counties
Count of 1 or 2, no rate shown6 counties
Bedford County: 15.9

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 Virginia

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
Amherst County	Virginia	5	45	14.2
Botetourt County	Virginia	8	71	21.1
Campbell County	Virginia	12	109	19.7
Franklin County	Virginia	18	125	22.4
Lynchburg city	Virginia	9	46	5.7
Pittsylvania County	Virginia	18	162	26.7
Roanoke County	Virginia	7	84	8.8
Rockbridge County	Virginia	8	68	30.1

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Virginia 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.
Virginia DMV Highway Safety OfficeThe highway safety office of Virginia.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Bedford County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/va/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.

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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 Bedford in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 124 deaths in Bedford County from 2005 to 2014. It records 127 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Bedford in 2024?

The rate of Bedford County in 2024 was 20.6 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Virginia was 10.4. 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 48 of 124 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?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 72 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.