Fatal RoadsSearch

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

Kentucky fatal crashes in 1985

FARS records 712 deaths in 624 fatal crashes in Kentucky in 1985.

In 1984 it records 754 deaths in 674 fatal crashes.

This site gives no rate for the years before 2000.

Deaths in Kentucky fell by 5.6% from 1984 to 1985. In the United States they fell by 1.0%.

In 1985, a driver was recorded as drinking in 40.4% of fatal crashes in Kentucky and 40.3% 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

1985 beside 1984

Table 1.Kentucky in 1985, in 1984 and the United States in 1985
FigureKentucky, 1985Kentucky, 1984United States, 1985
Deaths71275443,825
Fatal crashes62467439,196
Deaths for each 100,000 residentsn/an/an/a
Fatal crashes with a driver recorded as drinking25226815,777

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 1985

Table 2.Kentucky: counties with a fatal crash in 1985, in name order
CountyDeathsFatal crashes
Adair County44
Allen County1 or 21 or 2
Anderson County54
Ballard County33
Barren County108
Bath County31 or 2
Bell County129
Boone County2017
Bourbon County117
Boyd County66
Boyle County87
Bracken County1 or 21 or 2
Breathitt County44
Breckinridge County33
Bullitt County1612
Butler County33
Caldwell County1 or 21 or 2
Calloway County55
Campbell County88
Carlisle County1 or 21 or 2
Carroll County1 or 21 or 2
Carter County33
Casey County1 or 21 or 2
Christian County77
Clark County54
Clay County106
Clinton County55
Cumberland County53
Daviess County76
Edmonson County54
Elliott County1 or 21 or 2
Estill County33
Fayette County3430
Fleming County53
Floyd County129
Franklin County55
Fulton County1 or 21 or 2
Garrard County1 or 21 or 2
Grant County33
Graves County1 or 21 or 2
Grayson County87
Greenup County1 or 21 or 2
Hardin County1513
Harlan County33
Harrison County33
Hart County76
Henderson County87
Henry County44
Hickman County1 or 21 or 2
Hopkins County138
Jackson County44
Jefferson County7068
Jessamine County55
Johnson County64
Kenton County1717
Knott County33
Knox County1 or 21 or 2
Larue County43
Laurel County1212
Lawrence County33
Lee County54
Leslie County55
Letcher County76
Lewis County1 or 21 or 2
Lincoln County44
Livingston County1 or 21 or 2
Logan County76
Madison County1412
Magoffin County107
Marion County1 or 21 or 2
Marshall County54
Martin County1 or 21 or 2
Mason County54
McCracken County119
McCreary County1 or 21 or 2
McLean County44
Meade County64
Menifee County1 or 21 or 2
Mercer County44
Metcalfe County44
Monroe County54
Montgomery County33
Morgan County1 or 21 or 2
Muhlenberg County1 or 21 or 2
Nelson County108
Nicholas County1 or 21 or 2
Ohio County54
Oldham County54
Owsley County1 or 21 or 2
Pendleton County1 or 21 or 2
Perry County109
Pike County1918
Powell County33
Pulaski County1714
Rockcastle County55
Rowan County44
Russell County1 or 21 or 2
Scott County33
Shelby County88
Simpson County149
Taylor County63
Todd County66
Trigg County33
Union County1 or 21 or 2
Warren County1514
Washington County1 or 21 or 2
Wayne County44
Webster County54
Whitley County88
Wolfe County1 or 21 or 2
Woodford County66

Note: a county with no fatal crash in 1985 is not in the table. A count of 1 or 2 is written "1 or 2".

Time of day and weekday

Table 3.Kentucky: fatal crashes by time of day, 1985
Time of dayFatal crashesShare
Midnight to 6 a.m.12520.1%
6 a.m. to noon10016.1%
Noon to 6 p.m.20533.0%
6 p.m. to midnight19130.8%
Table 4.Kentucky: fatal crashes by weekday, 1985
WeekdayFatal crashesShare
Sunday9114.6%
Monday6610.6%
Tuesday8213.1%
Wednesday7612.2%
Thursday8513.6%
Friday10717.1%
Saturday11718.8%

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

Cite this page

Fatal Roads. Kentucky fatal crashes in 1985. https://fatalroads.com/state/kentucky/1985/. 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 1985. 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 1985 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 1985 was in Kentucky?

Kentucky had 712 of the 43,825 deaths in the United States in 1985. That is 1.6 percent.

In how many counties of Kentucky did FARS record a fatal crash in 1985?

FARS records one or more fatal crashes in 111 counties of Kentucky in 1985.

How many fatal crashes in Kentucky in 1985 had a driver recorded as drinking?

FARS records a driver as drinking in 252 of 624 fatal crashes in 1985.