Roanoke city, Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 9 deaths in 9 fatal crashes in Roanoke city in 2024.

FARS records 89 deaths in 85 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 9.0 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, Roanoke city was number 30 of 133 counties of Virginia.

Deaths in Roanoke city rose by 48.3% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (60) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (89).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 1.2% of the fatal crashes in Roanoke city 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 Roanoke city 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.Roanoke city: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	9	9	1 or 2
2023	10	10	1 or 2
2022	11	9	1 or 2
2021	10	10	3
2020	13	13	1 or 2
2019	5	5	3
2018	6	6	1 or 2
2017	12	12	3
2016	9	9	4
2015	4	1 or 2	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	89	85	22

Each year from 1975

Figure 2.Deaths in Roanoke city by year, 1975 to 2024

Tallest column: 29 (1985)2024: 9

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

Table 2.Roanoke city: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	9	9
2023	10	10
2022	11	9
2021	10	10
2020	13	13
2019	5	5
2018	6	6
2017	12	12
2016	9	9
2015	4	1 or 2
2014	7	7
2013	6	5
2012	4	4
2011	5	5
2010	5	5
2009	3	3
2008	6	6
2007	10	8
2006	8	8
2005	6	6
2004	8	7
2003	3	3
2002	8	8
2001	12	11
2000	9	9
1999	7	5
1998	7	7
1997	10	6
1996	6	6
1995	1 or 2	1 or 2
1994	4	4
1993	11	9
1992	8	8
1991	8	7
1990	10	10
1989	10	9
1988	6	6
1987	9	9
1986	11	11
1985	29	26
1984	9	9
1983	13	13
1982	10	9
1981	8	7
1980	7	7
1979	21	21
1978	12	12
1977	16	15
1976	9	9
1975	8	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.Roanoke city beside Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Roanoke city	Virginia	United States
2024	9.1	10.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	9.0	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. Roanoke city had 98,690 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Roanoke city: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 85 fatal crashes	22	85 fatal crashes	25.9%	29.4%
A speeding-related driverof 85 fatal crashes	34	85 fatal crashes	40.0%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 34 occupant deaths with restraint use known	23	34 occupant deathswith restraint use known	67.6%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 89 deaths	30	89 deaths	33.7%	13.9%
Bicyclistsof 89 deaths	0	89 deaths	0.0%	1.6%
Motorcyclistsof 89 deaths	22	89 deaths	24.7%	12.3%
On a rural roadof 83 fatal crashes with the condition reported	1 or 2	83 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	1.2%	55.4%
In the darkof 85 fatal crashes with the condition reported	43	85 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	50.6%	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.Roanoke city: 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	6	0	6	1 or 2	13
Monday	3	0	4	4	11
Tuesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	8
Wednesday	1 or 2	1 or 2	1 or 2	5	8
Thursday	1 or 2	1 or 2	8	6	18
Friday	3	4	1 or 2	10	19
Saturday	1 or 2	0	1 or 2	4	8
All days	18	9	26	32	85

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.Roanoke city: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Virginia
Interstate	1 or 2	2.4%	14.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	2.4%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	36	43.9%	26.4%
Minor arterial	20	24.4%	24.4%
Major collector	7	8.5%	18.4%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.2%	3.5%
Local	14	17.1%	10.0%
Not reported	3	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.Roanoke city: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	39
Dark, not lighted	9
Dark, lighted	34
Dawn	0
Dusk	3
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Roanoke city: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	0
Cloudy	1 or 2
Rain	7
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	0
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	76

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Roanoke city that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Roanoke city	In all of Virginia
State Route 24	State highway	1 or 2	24
US Route 11	US highway	18	136
US Route 220	US highway	4	92
US Route 460	US highway	12	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.Roanoke city 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
Roanoke city: 9.0

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 Roanoke city
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Roanoke County	Virginia	7	84	8.8
Salem city	Virginia	1 or 2	7	2.8

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 Roanoke city. 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. Roanoke city, Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/va/roanoke-city/. 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 Roanoke city in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 60 deaths in Roanoke city from 2005 to 2014. It records 89 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Roanoke city in 2024?

The rate of Roanoke city in 2024 was 9.1 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 Roanoke city had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 22 of 85 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 Roanoke city?

4 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 35 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.