Roanoke County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 7 deaths in 7 fatal crashes in Roanoke County in 2024.

FARS records 84 deaths in 76 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 8.8 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, Roanoke County was number 35 of 133 counties of Virginia.

Deaths in Roanoke County fell by 7.7% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (91) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (84).

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

From 2015 to 2024, 27.6% of the fatal crashes in Roanoke 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 Roanoke 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.Roanoke County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	7	7	0
2023	9	8	3
2022	11	11	4
2021	7	6	0
2020	11	9	1 or 2
2019	11	10	1 or 2
2018	5	4	1 or 2
2017	8	7	1 or 2
2016	5	5	3
2015	10	9	3
2015 to 2024	84	76	20

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 18 (1981)2024: 7

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

Table 2.Roanoke County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	7	7
2023	9	8
2022	11	11
2021	7	6
2020	11	9
2019	11	10
2018	5	4
2017	8	7
2016	5	5
2015	10	9
2014	4	4
2013	9	7
2012	11	10
2011	13	11
2010	4	3
2009	9	6
2008	6	6
2007	11	8
2006	10	10
2005	14	14
2004	15	14
2003	12	11
2002	8	7
2001	1 or 2	1 or 2
2000	9	8
1999	10	9
1998	8	8
1997	7	7
1996	6	4
1995	11	11
1994	7	7
1993	8	8
1992	5	5
1991	12	11
1990	10	8
1989	10	10
1988	6	6
1987	13	13
1986	9	7
1985	5	5
1984	1 or 2	1 or 2
1983	11	10
1982	13	10
1981	18	16
1980	6	5
1979	15	11
1978	7	6
1977	4	4
1976	10	9
1975	16	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.Roanoke County beside Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Roanoke County	Virginia	United States
2024	7.2	10.4	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	8.8	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. Roanoke County had 97,373 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Roanoke County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 76 fatal crashes	20	76 fatal crashes	26.3%	29.4%
A speeding-related driverof 76 fatal crashes	21	76 fatal crashes	27.6%	28.8%
No restraint usedof 67 occupant deaths with restraint use known	32	67 occupant deathswith restraint use known	47.8%	54.3%
Pedestriansof 84 deaths	7	84 deaths	8.3%	13.9%
Bicyclistsof 84 deaths	0	84 deaths	0.0%	1.6%
Motorcyclistsof 84 deaths	10	84 deaths	11.9%	12.3%
On a rural roadof 76 fatal crashes with the condition reported	21	76 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	27.6%	55.4%
In the darkof 76 fatal crashes with the condition reported	26	76 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	34.2%	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.Roanoke 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	3	1 or 2	6	1 or 2	12
Monday	3	1 or 2	3	3	11
Tuesday	1 or 2	5	5	1 or 2	12
Wednesday	0	1 or 2	4	4	10
Thursday	3	3	5	1 or 2	12
Friday	0	1 or 2	4	5	10
Saturday	1 or 2	3	1 or 2	3	9
All days	12	17	28	19	76

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 County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Virginia
Interstate	20	26.3%	14.8%
Other freeways and expressways	1 or 2	1.3%	2.6%
Other principal arterial	14	18.4%	26.4%
Minor arterial	27	35.5%	24.4%
Major collector	8	10.5%	18.4%
Minor collector	1 or 2	2.6%	3.5%
Local	4	5.3%	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.Roanoke County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	44
Dark, not lighted	21
Dark, lighted	1 or 2
Dawn	1 or 2
Dusk	4
Dark, lighting unknown	3
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Roanoke County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	0
Cloudy	8
Rain	5
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	1 or 2
Fog, smog or smoke	0
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	62

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Roanoke County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Roanoke	In all of Virginia
Interstate 81	Interstate	21	241
US Route 11	US highway	8	136
US Route 220	US highway	3	92
US Route 221	US highway	10	26
US Route 460	US highway	4	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 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
Roanoke County: 8.8

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 Roanoke County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Bedford County	Virginia	17	127	15.9
Botetourt County	Virginia	8	71	21.1
Craig County	Virginia	1 or 2	7	14.0
Floyd County	Virginia	1 or 2	17	10.9
Franklin County	Virginia	18	125	22.4
Montgomery County	Virginia	11	88	8.9
Roanoke city	Virginia	9	89	9.0
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 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. Roanoke County, Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/va/roanoke/. 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 in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 91 deaths in Roanoke County from 2005 to 2014. It records 84 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Roanoke in 2024?

The rate of Roanoke County in 2024 was 7.2 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 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 20 of 76 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?

5 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 46 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.