Kanawha County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics

Counties of West Virginia by year (CSV)Cite this page

FARS records 28 deaths in 27 fatal crashes in Kanawha County in 2024.

FARS records 268 deaths in 248 fatal crashes in the county from 2015 to 2024.

From 2015 to 2024 the rate is 14.9 deaths for each 100,000 residents in a year.

The rate of West Virginia in the same years is 15.2.

By deaths from 2015 to 2024, Kanawha County was number 1 of 55 counties of West Virginia.

Deaths in Kanawha County fell by 7.6% between the ten years 2005 to 2014 (290) and the ten years 2015 to 2024 (268).

In the counties of West Virginia the deaths fell by 23.1% between the same years.

From 2015 to 2024, 32.2% of the fatal crashes in Kanawha County with a known setting were rural, against 64.4% in West 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 Kanawha 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.Kanawha County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 2015 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes	Crashes with a driver recorded as drinking
2024	28	27	8
2023	26	23	9
2022	24	20	7
2021	36	33	9
2020	23	23	5
2019	16	15	1 or 2
2018	40	35	3
2017	31	30	5
2016	21	20	8
2015	23	22	9
2015 to 2024	268	248	65

Each year from 1975

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

Tallest column: 74 (1979)2024: 28

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

Table 2.Kanawha County: deaths and fatal crashes by year, 1975 to 2024
Year	Deaths	Fatal crashes
2024	28	27
2023	26	23
2022	24	20
2021	36	33
2020	23	23
2019	16	15
2018	40	35
2017	31	30
2016	21	20
2015	23	22
2014	20	19
2013	29	28
2012	25	25
2011	30	29
2010	27	24
2009	25	24
2008	25	25
2007	43	38
2006	35	31
2005	31	27
2004	28	28
2003	42	38
2002	44	38
2001	36	34
2000	52	45
1999	35	34
1998	44	41
1997	41	40
1996	29	28
1995	32	32
1994	35	33
1993	53	49
1992	38	32
1991	53	42
1990	62	55
1989	55	48
1988	37	34
1987	33	33
1986	40	33
1985	42	36
1984	46	43
1983	44	35
1982	45	42
1981	48	40
1980	62	55
1979	74	57
1978	66	54
1977	61	52
1976	44	38
1975	50	47

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.Kanawha County beside West Virginia and the United States: deaths for each 100,000 residents
Period	Kanawha County	West Virginia	United States
2024	16.1	14.5	11.5
2015 to 2024, in a year	14.9	15.2	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. Kanawha County had 173,423 residents in 2024.

Factors that NHTSA records

Table 4.Kanawha County: counts by recorded factor, 2015 to 2024
Factor	Count	Counted among	Share	Share in West Virginia
A driver recorded as drinkingof 248 fatal crashes	65	248 fatal crashes	26.2%	27.2%
A speeding-related driverof 248 fatal crashes	68	248 fatal crashes	27.4%	26.7%
No restraint usedof 161 occupant deaths with restraint use known	87	161 occupant deathswith restraint use known	54.0%	53.2%
Pedestriansof 268 deaths	54	268 deaths	20.1%	8.7%
Bicyclistsof 268 deaths	8	268 deaths	3.0%	1.0%
Motorcyclistsof 268 deaths	26	268 deaths	9.7%	12.4%
On a rural roadof 245 fatal crashes with the condition reported	79	245 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	32.2%	64.4%
In the darkof 248 fatal crashes with the condition reported	113	248 fatal crasheswith the condition reported	45.6%	38.3%

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.Kanawha 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	7	3	5	10	25
Monday	3	4	4	15	26
Tuesday	3	8	8	11	30
Wednesday	3	9	15	15	42
Thursday	8	7	14	15	44
Friday	3	8	16	15	42
Saturday	10	3	11	15	39
All days	37	42	73	96	248

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.Kanawha County: fatal crashes by road function class, 2015 to 2024
Road function class	Fatal crashes	Share	Share in West Virginia
Interstate	49	20.0%	11.9%
Other freeways and expressways	0	0.0%	0.4%
Other principal arterial	70	28.6%	25.0%
Minor arterial	61	24.9%	22.3%
Major collector	23	9.4%	22.8%
Minor collector	13	5.3%	6.1%
Local	29	11.8%	11.5%
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.Kanawha County: fatal crashes by light condition, 2015 to 2024
Light condition	Fatal crashes
Daylight	124
Dark, not lighted	79
Dark, lighted	34
Dawn	3
Dusk	8
Dark, lighting unknown	0
Other or unknown	0

Table 8.Kanawha County: fatal crashes by weather, 2015 to 2024
Weather	Fatal crashes
Clear	178
Cloudy	27
Rain	34
Snow, sleet or freezing rain	5
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 Kanawha County that have a page: fatal crashes, 2015 to 2024
Route	Type	In Kanawha	In all of West Virginia
Interstate 64	Interstate	10	78
Interstate 77	Interstate	26	94
Interstate 79	Interstate	15	92
State Route 62	State highway	4	25
US Route 60	US highway	49	99
US Route 119	US highway	29	87

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 West Virginia

Adjacent counties

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

Figure 3.Kanawha County on the county map of West Virginia

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

Fewer than 105 counties
10 to 14.918 counties
15 to 19.915 counties
20 to 29.916 counties
30 or more1 county
Kanawha County: 14.9

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 West Virginia

Table 10.Counties that share a boundary line with Kanawha County
County	State	Deaths, 2024	Deaths, 2015 to 2024	For each 100,000 residents in a year
Boone County	West Virginia	1 or 2	39	18.0
Clay County	West Virginia	0	18	21.8
Fayette County	West Virginia	1 or 2	62	14.9
Jackson County	West Virginia	1 or 2	60	21.2
Lincoln County	West Virginia	4	41	20.1
Nicholas County	West Virginia	6	63	25.5
Putnam County	West Virginia	4	62	10.9
Raleigh County	West Virginia	23	137	18.5
Roane County	West Virginia	1 or 2	33	23.7

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

Counties of similar population

These counties of West Virginia have a population nearest to that of Kanawha 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. Kanawha County, West Virginia: fatal crash statistics. https://fatalroads.com/county/wv/kanawha/. 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 Kanawha in the ten years before 2015?

FARS records 290 deaths in Kanawha County from 2005 to 2014. It records 268 deaths from 2015 to 2024.

What was the rate of Kanawha in 2024?

The rate of Kanawha County in 2024 was 16.1 deaths for each 100,000 residents. The rate of West Virginia was 14.5. The rate of the United States was 11.5.

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

FARS records a driver as drinking in 65 of 248 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 Kanawha?

6 signed routes in the county have a page. FARS records 133 fatal crashes on them in the county from 2015 to 2024. The table of routes on this page gives the count for each route.