Fatal RoadsSearch

Edition: FARS 2024, annual fileNHTSA released it on Release dates

Delaware fatal crashes in 1997

FARS records 143 deaths in 120 fatal crashes in Delaware in 1997.

In 1996 it records 116 deaths in 105 fatal crashes.

This site gives no rate for the years before 2000.

Deaths in Delaware rose by 23.3% from 1996 to 1997. In the United States they fell by 0.1%.

In 1997, a driver was recorded as drinking in 37.5% of fatal crashes in Delaware and 30.1% in the United States.

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 .

This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years. Release dates

1997 beside 1996

Table 1.Delaware in 1997, in 1996 and the United States in 1997
FigureDelaware, 1997Delaware, 1996United States, 1997
Deaths14311642,013
Fatal crashes12010537,324
Deaths for each 100,000 residentsn/an/an/a
Fatal crashes with a driver recorded as drinking453211,231

Note: this site has no rate for the years before 2000.

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. NHTSA's definitions

For the years before 2015 the count is from the FARS element DRUNK_DR. It counts a blood alcohol concentration of .01 g/dL or more. From 2015 the count is from DR_DRINK and counts .001 g/dL or more.

Counties in 1997

Table 2.Delaware: counties with a fatal crash in 1997, in name order
CountyDeathsFatal crashes
Kent County2524
New Castle County7460
Sussex County4436

Note: a county with no fatal crash in 1997 is not in the table. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Time of day and weekday

Table 3.Delaware: fatal crashes by time of day, 1997
Time of dayFatal crashesShare
Midnight to 6 a.m.3226.7%
6 a.m. to noon1714.2%
Noon to 6 p.m.3025.0%
6 p.m. to midnight4134.2%
Table 4.Delaware: fatal crashes by weekday, 1997
WeekdayFatal crashesShare
Sunday1714.2%
Monday1714.2%
Tuesday119.2%
Wednesday1512.5%
Thursday1512.5%
Friday1815.0%
Saturday2722.5%

Note: the tables have the fatal crashes with a known hour or weekday.

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Delaware fatal crashes in 1997. https://fatalroads.com/state/delaware/1997/. Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, FARS 2024 annual file. Data to .

The address of this page does not change.

Source of the figures

Counts: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Fatality Analysis Reporting System, national file of 1997. This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years. Residents: Census Bureau, Population Estimates Program, vintage 2025. Data to .

How the figures are made. Data sources and licences. Corrections.

Questions

Which file does the 1997 page use?

This site reads the years before 2015 from one fixed copy. It does not track later revisions of these years.

What part of the deaths in the United States in 1997 was in Delaware?

Delaware had 143 of the 42,013 deaths in the United States in 1997. That is 0.3 percent.

In how many counties of Delaware did FARS record a fatal crash in 1997?

FARS records one or more fatal crashes in 3 counties of Delaware in 1997.

How many fatal crashes in Delaware in 1997 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 45 of 120 fatal crashes in 1997.