Dane County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics

Counties of Wisconsin by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 38 deaths in 30 fatal crashes in Dane County in 2024.

FARS records 352 deaths in 311 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 6.3 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of Wisconsin in the same years is 10.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Dane County was number 2 of 72 counties of Wisconsin.

Deaths in Dane County fell by 8.8% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (386) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (352).

In the counties of Wisconsin the deaths fell by 5.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 46.8% of the fatal crashes in Dane County with a known setting were rural, against 62.5% in Wisconsin.

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 Dane 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.Dane County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	38	30	14
2023	29	27	10
2022	40	34	14
2021	47	43	12
2020	32	27	7
2019	25	25	9
2018	41	34	18
2017	32	28	6
2016	38	33	7
2015	30	30	10
2015 to 2024	352	311	107

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 63 (1979)2024: 38

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

Table 2.Dane County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	38	30
2023	29	27
2022	40	34
2021	47	43
2020	32	27
2019	25	25
2018	41	34
2017	32	28
2016	38	33
2015	30	30
2014	29	27
2013	35	33
2012	33	28
2011	36	33
2010	35	33
2009	33	32
2008	37	31
2007	52	46
2006	44	41
2005	52	47
2004	55	51
2003	42	40
2002	56	46
2001	36	32
2000	40	38
1999	31	30
1998	35	32
1997	33	26
1996	41	39
1995	33	31
1994	43	35
1993	39	36
1992	37	32
1991	37	36
1990	44	38
1989	53	47
1988	50	38
1987	45	40
1986	50	43
1985	56	48
1984	52	45
1983	53	48
1982	45	38
1981	44	40
1980	45	38
1979	63	49
1978	47	41
1977	61	49
1976	57	53
1975	47	43

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.Dane County beside Wisconsin and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Dane County	Wisconsin	United States
2024	6.5	10.0	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	6.3	10.2	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. Dane County had 586,325 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Dane County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in Wisconsin
A driver recorded as drinkingof 311 fatal crashes	107	311 fatal crashes	34.4%	33.4%
A speeding-related driverof 311 fatal crashes	94	311 fatal crashes	30.2%	31.0%
No restraint usedof 190 occupant deaths with restraint use known	76	190 occupant deathswith restraint use known	40.0%	49.1%
Pedestriansof 352 deaths	48	352 deaths	13.6%	9.5%
Bicyclistsof 352 deaths	11	352 deaths	3.1%	1.7%
Motorcyclistsof 352 deaths	54	352 deaths	15.3%	15.8%
On a rural roadof 308 fatal crashes with the condition reported	144	308 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	46.8%	62.5%
In the darkof 305 fatal crashes with the condition reported	140	305 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.9%	41.7%

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.Dane 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	8	10	19	11	48
Monday	6	4	11	13	34
Tuesday	3	8	15	12	38
Wednesday	1 or 2	6	11	15	33
Thursday	8	5	16	14	43
Friday	12	15	10	18	55
Saturday	14	8	9	15	46
All days	52	56	91	98	297

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.Dane County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in Wisconsin
Interstate	30	9.7%	7.6%
Other freeways and expressways	28	9.1%	2.3%
Other principal arterial	99	32.1%	29.4%
Minor arterial	64	20.8%	22.7%
Major collector	32	10.4%	17.2%
Minor collector	18	5.8%	6.2%
Local	37	12.0%	14.6%
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.Dane County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	143
Dark, not lighted	79
Dark, lighted	59
Dawn	6
Dusk	16
Dark, lighting unknown	1 or 2
Other or unknown	6

Table 8.Dane County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	202
Cloudy	75
Rain	19
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
Fog, smog or smoke	1 or 2
Crosswinds or blowing sand/snow	1 or 2
Other or not reported	7

Routes in the county

Table 9.Signed routes in Dane County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Dane	In all of Wisconsin
Interstate 39	Interstate	22	68
Interstate 90	Interstate	1 or 2	46
Interstate 94	Interstate	7	111
State Route 73	State highway	3	37
US Route 12	US highway	24	108
US Route 14	US highway	13	59
US Route 18	US highway	6	43
US Route 51	US highway	21	73
US Route 151	US highway	21	70

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 Wisconsin

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Dane County on the county map of Wisconsin

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

Fewer than 1018 counties
10 to 14.922 counties
15 to 19.916 counties
20 to 29.914 counties
30 or more2 counties
Dane County: 6.3

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 Wisconsin

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Dane County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Columbia County	Wisconsin	12	114	19.8
Dodge County	Wisconsin	18	127	14.4
Green County	Wisconsin	3	49	13.3
Iowa County	Wisconsin	1 or 2	40	16.8
Jefferson County	Wisconsin	12	96	11.2
Rock County	Wisconsin	16	210	12.9
Sauk County	Wisconsin	7	107	16.5

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of Wisconsin have a population nearest to that of Dane 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.
Governors Highway Safety Association: State Highway Safety OfficesThe list of the highway safety offices of the states.

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Dane County, Wisconsin: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wi/dane/. 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.

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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 Dane in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 386 deaths in Dane County from 2005 to 2014. It records 352 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Dane in 2024?

The rate of Dane County in 2024 was 6.5 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of Wisconsin was 10.0. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 107 of 311 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 Dane?

9 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 118 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.