Buchanan County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 4 deaths in 3 fatal crashes in Buchanan County in 2024.

FARS records 47 deaths in 43 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 22.8 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, Buchanan County was number 65 of 133 counties of Virginia.

Deaths in Buchanan County fell by 37.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (75) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (47).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 100.0% of the fatal crashes in Buchanan 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 Buchanan County by year, 2015 to 2024

1 or 2

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.Buchanan County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	4	3	1 or 2
2023	9	9	1 or 2
2022	5	5	1 or 2
2021	4	4	0
2020	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2019	4	4	1 or 2
2018	5	5	0
2017	6	5	1 or 2
2016	3	3	1 or 2
2015	6	4	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	47	43	10

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 24 (1980)2024: 4

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

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

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.Buchanan County beside Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Buchanan County	Virginia	United States
2024	21.4	10.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	22.8	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. Buchanan County had 18,723 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Buchanan County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 43 fatal crashes	10	43 fatal crashes	23.3%	29.4%
A speeding-related driverof 43 fatal crashes	17	43 fatal crashes	39.5%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 43 occupant deaths with restraint use known	28	43 occupant deathswith restraint use known	65.1%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 47 deaths	1 or 2	47 deaths	2.1%	13.9%
Bicyclistsof 47 deaths	0	47 deaths	0.0%	1.6%
Motorcyclistsof 47 deaths	3	47 deaths	6.4%	12.3%
On a rural roadof 43 fatal crashes with the condition reported	43	43 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	55.4%
In the darkof 43 fatal crashes with the condition reported	13	43 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	30.2%	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.Buchanan 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	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Monday	0	1 or 2	5	0	6
Tuesday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	6
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	6
Thursday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
Friday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	7
Saturday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	6
All days	6	9	16	12	43

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.Buchanan 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	15	34.9%	26.4%
Minor arterial	9	20.9%	24.4%
Major collector	9	20.9%	18.4%
Minor collector	5	11.6%	3.5%
Local	5	11.6%	10.0%
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.Buchanan County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	27
Dark, not lighted	13
Dark, lighted	0
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Buchanan County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	0
Cloudy	3
Rain	9
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	30

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Buchanan County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Buchanan	In all of Virginia
US Route 460	US highway	15	242

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.Buchanan 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
Buchanan County: 22.8

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 Buchanan County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Pike County	Kentucky	19	162	27.9
Dickenson County	Virginia	3	17	11.9
Russell County	Virginia	5	65	24.7
Tazewell County	Virginia	4	59	14.5
McDowell County	West Virginia	3	44	24.0
Mingo County	West Virginia	4	39	16.7

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 Buchanan 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. Buchanan County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/va/buchanan/. 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.

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 Buchanan in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 75 deaths in Buchanan County from 2005 to 2014. It records 47 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Buchanan in 2024?

The rate of Buchanan County in 2024 was 21.4 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 Buchanan had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 10 of 43 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 Buchanan?

FARS records 15 fatal crashes on US Route 460 in the county from 2015 to 2024.