Adams County, Washington: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Washington by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 6 deaths in 4 fatal crashes in Adams County in 2024.

FARS records 75 deaths in 65 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 37.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Washington in the same years is 8.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Adams County was number 20 of 39 counties of Washington.

Deaths in Adams County rose by 36.4% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (55) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (75).

In the counties of Washington the deaths rose by 22.3% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 90.8% of the fatal crashes in Adams County with a known setting were rural, against 41.9% in Washington.

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 Adams 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.Adams County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	6	4	1 or 2
2023	10	8	1 or 2
2022	8	6	1 or 2
2021	6	6	0
2020	5	5	1 or 2
2019	7	6	3
2018	7	6	0
2017	10	10	1 or 2
2016	5	4	0
2015	11	10	1 or 2
2015 to 2024	75	65	11

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 23 (1976)2024: 6

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

Table 2.Adams County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	6	4
2023	10	8
2022	8	6
2021	6	6
2020	5	5
2019	7	6
2018	7	6
2017	10	10
2016	5	4
2015	11	10
2014	8	6
2013	5	5
2012	4	3
2011	7	7
2010	6	6
2009	1 or 2	1 or 2
2008	7	6
2007	3	3
2006	4	4
2005	10	6
2004	4	4
2003	11	9
2002	9	9
2001	19	16
2000	10	10
1999	7	7
1998	8	6
1997	7	6
1996	9	7
1995	6	6
1994	9	7
1993	9	7
1992	7	7
1991	9	9
1990	8	5
1989	13	11
1988	11	11
1987	1 or 2	1 or 2
1986	11	10
1985	13	9
1984	3	3
1983	9	9
1982	8	8
1981	10	7
1980	1 or 2	1 or 2
1979	10	10
1978	10	9
1977	5	5
1976	23	12
1975	6	5

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.Adams County beside Washington and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Adams County	Washington	United States
2024	28.1	9.2	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	37.1	8.2	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. Adams County had 21,322 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Adams County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Washington
A driver recorded as drinkingof 65 fatal crashes	11	65 fatal crashes	16.9%	31.1%
A speeding-related driverof 65 fatal crashes	24	65 fatal crashes	36.9%	31.1%
No restraint usedof 60 occupant deaths with restraint use known	22	60 occupant deathswith restraint use known	36.7%	40.8%
Pedestriansof 75 deaths	1 or 2	75 deaths	2.7%	18.4%
Bicyclistsof 75 deaths	1 or 2	75 deaths	1.3%	2.2%
Motorcyclistsof 75 deaths	4	75 deaths	5.3%	15.7%
On a rural roadof 65 fatal crashes with the condition reported	59	65 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	90.8%	41.9%
In the darkof 65 fatal crashes with the condition reported	30	65 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.2%	47.7%

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.Adams 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	4	1 or 2	5	1 or 2	12
Monday	3	1 or 2	4	4	12
Tuesday	0	0	1 or 2	1 or 2	3
Wednesday	0	4	6	4	14
Thursday	3	1 or 2	1 or 2	0	5
Friday	0	3	4	1 or 2	9
Saturday	5	0	4	1 or 2	10
All days	15	11	26	13	65

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.Adams County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Washington
Interstate	17	26.2%	12.4%
Other freeways and expressways	15	23.1%	6.1%
Other principal arterial	14	21.5%	30.8%
Minor arterial	1 or 2	3.1%	19.2%
Major collector	15	23.1%	18.2%
Minor collector	1 or 2	1.5%	3.8%
Local	1 or 2	1.5%	9.5%
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.Adams County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	30
Dark, not lighted	23
Dark, lighted	7
Dawn	3
Dusk	1 or 2
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Adams County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	46
Cloudy	6
Rain	3
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	6
Fog, smog or smoke	3
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	0
Other or not reported	1 or 2

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Adams County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Adams	In all of Washington
Interstate 90	Interstate	17	161
State Route 17	State highway	7	39
State Route 26	State highway	13	29
US Route 395	US highway	9	77

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 Washington

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Adams County on the county map of Washington

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

Fewer than 1018 counties
10 to 14.98 counties
15 to 19.94 counties
20 to 29.94 counties
30 or more5 counties
Adams County: 37.1

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 Washington

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Adams County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Franklin County	Washington	11	81	8.5
Grant County	Washington	26	208	21.1
Lincoln County	Washington	7	39	35.4
Whitman County	Washington	5	43	8.9

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Washington have a population nearest to that of Adams 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.
Washington Traffic Safety CommissionThe highway safety office of Washington.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Adams County, Washington: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wa/adams/. 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 Adams in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 55 deaths in Adams County from 2005 to 2014. It records 75 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Adams in 2024?

The rate of Adams County in 2024 was 28.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Washington was 9.2. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 11 of 65 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 Adams?

4 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.