Lancaster County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 1 or 2 deaths in 1 or 2 fatal crashes in Lancaster County in 2024.

FARS records 21 deaths in 20 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 19.4 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, Lancaster County was number 97 of 133 counties of Virginia.

Deaths in Lancaster County fell by 8.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (23) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (21).

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 Lancaster 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 Lancaster 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.Lancaster County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2022	0	0	0
2021	5	4	1 or 2
2020	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	3	3	1 or 2
2016	4	4	1 or 2
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2	0
2015 to 2024	21	20	12

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 7 (1992)2024: 1 or 2

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

Table 2.Lancaster County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	1 or 2	1 or 2
2023	1 or 2	1 or 2
2022	0	0
2021	5	4
2020	1 or 2	1 or 2
2019	1 or 2	1 or 2
2018	1 or 2	1 or 2
2017	3	3
2016	4	4
2015	1 or 2	1 or 2
2014	1 or 2	1 or 2
2013	4	4
2012	1 or 2	1 or 2
2011	4	1 or 2
2010	0	0
2009	0	0
2008	1 or 2	1 or 2
2007	4	3
2006	5	5
2005	1 or 2	1 or 2
2004	1 or 2	1 or 2
2003	1 or 2	1 or 2
2002	0	0
2001	0	0
2000	1 or 2	1 or 2
1999	6	5
1998	3	3
1997	3	3
1996	0	0
1995	0	0
1994	3	3
1993	3	3
1992	7	4
1991	1 or 2	1 or 2
1990	1 or 2	1 or 2
1989	1 or 2	1 or 2
1988	4	4
1987	1 or 2	1 or 2
1986	3	3
1985	0	0
1984	1 or 2	1 or 2
1983	1 or 2	1 or 2
1982	1 or 2	1 or 2
1981	4	4
1980	4	4
1979	1 or 2	1 or 2
1978	3	3
1977	5	4
1976	1 or 2	1 or 2
1975	0	0

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.Lancaster County beside Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Lancaster County	Virginia	United States
2024	n/a	10.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	19.4	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. No rate is given for a count of 1 or 2.

Population: Census Bureau estimates, vintage 2025. Lancaster County had 10,971 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Lancaster County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 20 fatal crashes	12	20 fatal crashes	60.0%	29.4%
A speeding-related driverof 20 fatal crashes	9	20 fatal crashes	45.0%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 18 occupant deaths with restraint use known	12	18 occupant deathswith restraint use known	66.7%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 21 deaths	1 or 2	21 deaths	9.5%	13.9%
Bicyclistsof 21 deaths	0	21 deaths	0.0%	1.6%
Motorcyclistsof 21 deaths	1 or 2	21 deaths	4.8%	12.3%
On a rural roadof 20 fatal crashes with the condition reported	20	20 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	100.0%	55.4%
In the darkof 20 fatal crashes with the condition reported	9	20 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.0%	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.Lancaster 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	0	1 or 2	3
Monday	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	3
Tuesday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
Wednesday	0	0	1 or 2	3	4
Thursday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2
Friday	0	0	1 or 2	0	1 or 2
Saturday	1 or 2	0	0	4	5
All days	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	11	20

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.Lancaster 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	0	0.0%	26.4%
Minor arterial	6	30.0%	24.4%
Major collector	11	55.0%	18.4%
Minor collector	0	0.0%	3.5%
Local	3	15.0%	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.Lancaster County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	9
Dark, not lighted	8
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	0
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Lancaster County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	0
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	1 or 2
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	17

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Lancaster County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Lancaster	In all of Virginia
State Route 3	State highway	3	71

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.Lancaster 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
Lancaster County: 19.4

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 Lancaster County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Accomack County	Virginia	6	65	19.6
Middlesex County	Virginia	4	28	26.0
Northumberland County	Virginia	1 or 2	21	17.2
Richmond County	Virginia	0	19	21.1

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 Lancaster 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. Lancaster County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/va/lancaster/. 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 Lancaster in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 23 deaths in Lancaster County from 2005 to 2014. It records 21 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 12 of 20 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 Lancaster?

FARS records 3 fatal crashes on State Route 3 in the county from 2015 to 2024.